As the head of the Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem has a lot to answer for.
Noem is the top dog in U.S. natural disaster response, which is under fire following deadly floods in Texas. The former governor walked into a buzzsaw on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday, when host Kristen Welker took her to task over the job she’s done in President Donald Trump‘s second term.
Welker cited a report from the New York Times that claimed staggering numbers of calls to FEMA for assistance went unanswered in the wake of the central Texas flood. The report notes that the Trump administration had let call center staff contracts expire the day after the flood and that Noem took five days to get a new contract in place. Per the Times, the days after the waters receded saw nearly two-thirds of calls to FEMA go unanswered.
Noem denied the facts of the report on Sunday, saying that “no employees were off work.”
“It’s just false,” Noem said. “Every one of them was answering calls, so false reporting, fake news, and it’s discouraging. It’s discouraging that during this time, when we have such a loss of life and so many people’s lives have turned upside down, that people are playing politics with this.”
Noem said that the outlet’s reporting needs to be “validified” and that she’s “not sure where [their numbers] came from.”
“The individuals who are giving you information out of FEMA, I’d love to have them put their names behind it because the anonymous attacks to politicize the situation is completely wrong,” she said.
The report comes after Noem put in place a requirement that she approve any contract over $100,000. Welker asked why Noem would want to add more “red tape” to disaster recovery.
“It’s not extra red tape. It’s making sure everything gets to my level,” Noem said. “This was not slown down at all.”
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Welker also pressed Noem about an alleged delay in deploying search and rescue teams by multiple days.
“They were deployed immediately when requested,” Noem said. “So many individuals are playing politics with what happened to Texas.”
Watch the interview below:
