Trump claims Texans had to be rescued after going ‘out in their boats to watch’ Hurricane Harvey

President Trump claimed Tuesday that people had to be rescued during Hurricane Harvey last year after they “went out in their boats to watch the hurricane.”

Trump made the comments at a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) briefing on the upcoming hurricane season while praising the Coast Guard’s efforts during last year’s storm in Texas.

“They saved 16,000 people, many of them in Texas, for whatever reason that is,” Trump said of the Coast Guard. “People went out in their boats to watch the hurricane. That didn’t work out too well.” 

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Reporters questioned Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) about Trump’s comment, according to the Texas Tribune.

Abbott told the media he had “no information one way or the other about that.”

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, whose jurisdiction covers Houston, told the Houston Chronicle that he “didn’t see anyone taking the approach that would reflect his comments.”

He instead credited Texans who helped to recuse those who were stranded on boats.

“I’ll be sure to invite the president to ride out the next hurricane in a jon boat in Galveston Bay the next time one approaches,” Gonzalez added.

The Coast Guard said last year that it had rescued about 11,000 people during Hurricane Harvey.