White House press secretary was slammed for blaming the Texas flooding disaster on God as she failed to mention the Trump administration’s many cuts to federal agencies involved in emergency weather mitigation

Leavitt was slammed for placing the blame on God(Image: AP)

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was slammed online for suggesting that the horrific flooding in Texas, which killed over 94 people, including at least 28 children, was an “act of God.”

In doing so, she failed to acknowledge the Trump administration’s gutting of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Weather Service (NWS), which were reportedly understaffed and underfunded when disaster struck. A reporter called the Trump administration out during a press briefing at the White House on Monday, hosted by Leavitt.

The journalist asked: “I know there has been some concern over the timing of the alerts. Knowing that they did go out, with the warnings coming out in the wee hours, so while many people were likely sleeping, can you share, just detail to us, what you know about why those warnings were sent while people were likely sleeping, and then what the administration’s doing to ensure that these alerts come out sooner?” It came as a Trump family member revealed the latest worrying symptom to appear during the president’s cognitive decline.

On the flooding, Leavitt replied, “Well, the alerts imminently were sent out before the flood when people were sleeping because the flood hit in the very early hours of the morning. So, people were sleeping in the middle of the night when this flood came.”

“That was an act of God — it’s not the administration’s fault that the flood hit when it did,” she continued. “But there were early and consistent warnings, and, again, the National Weather Service did its job.”

Videos of the moment went viral on X and other social media platforms, with furious users calling out the press secretary for the excuses they said she was making instead of taking responsibility for the situation, which they described as the administration’s “fault.”

“Trump is blaming God now,” one user wrote. Another added: “The more she denies it, the more it seems like it’s kinda the admins fault, An act of God who is obviously not happy about the worship of false idols.”

Another chalked the comment up to a failure of the administration to once again blame the Biden administration for the disaster, which the Trump administration has done in the past. “They couldn’t blame Biden for this one so they blamed God,” one user wrote.

Yet others commented on the insurance fiascos that followed the deadly weather event, stating that most insurance companies wouldn’t accept an “act of God” as a reason to pay up.

The floods killed over 80, including at least 28 children, and caused severe damage(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)

“Good luck trying to get insurance to cover God’s deadly vengeful flood,” one X user wrote. Another added: “Most insurance excludes acts of God. So there goes any insurance coverage if they actually was any.”

Some users pointed out the hypocrisy Leavitt exhibited in blaming this particular flood — which struck a red state — as an “act of God,” while other natural disasters that resulted in immense damages and loss of life were blamed on the Biden administration or other political opponents to President Donald Trump.

“Is it only acts of God when it hits red states?” one user demanded. Another was quick to redirect the blame on the Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which effectively gutted the workforce at the NWS and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which predict and warn residents about major weather phenomena like the storms that battered Texas over the weekend.

FEMA also had its funds slashed as part of those cuts, resulting in fewer dollars being available to assist with search and recovery efforts and rebuilding after the disaster passed.

“An ‘act of god’ that will keep happening due to Trumps gutting of NOAA. Guaranteed,” that user wrote.