Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem faced a wave of criticism Monday after appearing on Fox & Friends, where she expressed disbelief over how flash flooding in central Texas turned so deadly despite early warnings.
“I can’t wrap my head around how this happened,” Noem said on the morning show, referring to the more than 90 lives lost over the weekend. “Flash flood alerts went out several hours beforehand.”
Her remarks immediately drew backlash online, with critics accusing her of being out of touch and ignoring failures in disaster response.
“Spare us the shocked routine,” wrote Charles Perreria on X (formerly Twitter). “The alerts weren’t enough, the response was too slow, and leadership failed—again. People are dead, kids are missing, and she’s up there acting like it was all just a surprise. No, Kristi. It was negligence. Own it.”
Others called her comments hypocritical, especially in light of her social media activity. Hannah Muldavin, Deputy Communications Director for the Democratic National Committee, pointed out that Noem spent the previous evening posting glamor portraits of herself on Instagram instead of focusing on the crisis.
“While Texas faces the impacts of deadly flooding, DHS Sec. Kristi Noem spent last night posting portraits of herself and asking followers to pick their favorite,” Muldavin posted.
The post she referenced showed Noem asking followers to help her choose which official portrait to hang in the South Dakota statehouse from her time as governor.
The criticism didn’t stop there. Another user wrote, “Cosplaying Queen can’t really wrap her head around it. How unshocking is that.”
And another viral post read, “Rest easy knowing our Secretary of Homeland Security is unable to grasp how a several-hours advance warning of a deadly flood could have prevented tragedy.”
So far, Noem has not responded to the criticism. Meanwhile, search and recovery efforts in Texas continue as officials try to locate those still missing and assess the full scope of the damage.
