LEMON DROP | Texas Is Drowning, So Is American Journalism
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Why does Don Lemon say 'Texas is drowning, so is American journalism'?
There's something that I have to say, and it has really been weighing on my mind and I've been wondering if I should say it, because the people of Texas are really going through it right now and I didn't want to be a distraction to the folks of Texas I've waited a little bit but I, I am outraged. Number one. By the response that this administration has had and the lack of accountability. And number two, I've been outraged really by the media coverage. I know it's always really easy to blame the media. And I hated that, especially when I was in in in legacy media, traditional media. But this one is, I think, needs to be said. OK, and I just want to be clear about this. And this is I wrote about this on Substack.
I just want to be clear from the very first sentence. It says Texas is drowning. So is American journalism. Texans are dying. The government is lying. And the media, too many are too afraid to say it out loud. OK, and I just had to do this because I believe this to be true. And I start by saying, let's just be clear from the very first sentence. This disaster in Texas didn't just happen. It wasn't just the weather. It wasn't just an act of God. This catastrophe, this deadly, devastating tragedy has left hundreds dead and missing. Was made worse by choices. by deliberate calculated actions from the Trump administration. So I don't want to say, you know, oh my God, this is the, you know, blame everything on the media.
I also want to say, I know that the Trump administration does not control the weather. I mean, Marjorie Taylor Greene may think that, you know, that the weather is controlled by, you know, the deep state, the Jewish space lasers and all of that. I'm not that dumb to think that. This administration gutted FEMA. That's what I mean by accountability and what's happened here. They slashed funding for NOAA. They stripped disaster preparedness programs to the bone while pumping billions into DOGE is what they did it. Billions into DOGE, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which has become little more than a slush fund for political revenge and favors. What did they find? Doge did not find that.
They didn't save anything. If you look at the reporting and the math, they didn't. Look at the devastation on your screen of what's happening in Texas. Look at that. Imagine what the people there are dealing with. This White House set the stage for this disaster. They ignored warnings about heat, about flooding, about the collapse of critical infrastructure. And now guess what they're doing? Now they are hiding behind press conferences and photo ops while Texans mourn. And yet somehow too many in the media, and I'm being honest here, they're afraid to say that out loud. I want to take you to Texas right now because I want you to feel and see, and I want this to, I want you to see the impact of the decisions from this administration, the impact that how it is affecting people.
So let me just take you to Texas right now. Families are burying their dead, burying their dead, their loved ones after days of triple digit heat. after days of blackouts and flash floods that swallowed entire communities. 27 children were killed at Camp Mystic in Curt County. Over 160 people are still missing. Elderly residents were found dead in their homes, overcome by heat, drowned by rising waters, abandoned by the very system designed to protect them. Parents held their children close as temperature soared, waiting for rescue teams that never arrived. Kind of reminds you of something, right? Doesn't that remind you of something? I'll get to that part later. Kind of reminds you of something. And what did the state and federal officials do?
Well, they held press conferences, thanking each other for their swift response. They patted themselves on the back while families clutched photographs of missing loved ones still waiting for answers. But one journalist refused to play along. And I got to tell you about her because I'm very proud of what she did. Her name is Stefania Jimenez. She's an anchor for at KSAT in San Antonio.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
Why does Don Lemon say 'Texas is drowning, so is American journalism'?
0:00–4:23
2
How does the host link federal policy decisions to the Texas disaster?
4:23–6:49
3
What specific cuts to FEMA and NOAA does the episode blame for worsening the crisis?
6:49–12:03
4
How are Texans being affected on the ground—deaths, missing people, and infrastructure failures?
12:03–13:34