White House fires back as George Stephanopoulos appears to blame Trump admin for devastating Texas floods

WASHINGTON, DC: You’d think that after ABC coughed up a hefty $16 million in a defamation lawsuit to President Donald Trump, anchor George Stephanopoulos might choose his words a little more carefully.

However, the ABC News Sunday morning anchor is reportedly pushing another narrative, laying blame on Trump, even while bodies from a Fourth of July tragedy in Texas are still being recovered.

Texas floods claim several lives over Fourth of July weekend

At least 68 people in Kerr County, Texas, died over the Fourth of July weekend after the Guadalupe River flooded.

Twenty-eight of the victims were children, many from Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp that became a disaster zone.

The total death toll from the flooding across Texas now stands at 82 as of this writing, with additional fatalities confirmed in Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green, and Williamson counties.

Several children from Camp Mystic are still missing and unaccounted for.

Trump responded quickly, signing a “Major Disaster Declaration” to unlock federal relief for the area. The commander-in-chief informed that Texas first responders and Coast Guard teams have saved over 850 lives. 

George Stephanopoulos makes false claim about National Weather Service offices being understaffed

Instead of simply reporting on the tragedy, George Stephanopoulos appears to have used his Sunday show as a platform to once again target the Trump administration — this time over weather policy.

“We’re also learning there were significant staffing shortfalls to the National Weather Service offices in the region,” Stephanopoulos claimed, implying that budget or staffing cuts under Trump might have caused the disaster.

However, the statement turned out to be what critics are calling another blatant lie. Not only were there no staffing shortfalls, but there were actually extra meteorologists on duty.

The National Weather Service office in New Braunfels — which provides forecasts for Austin, San Antonio, and surrounding regions — was overstaffed that night, not shorthanded.

Jason Runyen, a spokesperson for the office, said, “There were extra people in here that night, and that’s typical in every weather service office — you staff up for an event and bring people in on overtime and hold people over.” He added that while two forecasters usually work during clear weather, the night of the storm had up to five staffers on duty.

Even White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson called Stephanopoulos out. “This is absolute fake news and even Wired knows it,” she wrote on X, linking to a story from Wired that backed the Weather Service and the Trump administration.

ABC's $16 million payout to Donald Trump

This comes as George Stephanopoulos recently sustained a legal smackdown from the Trump camp.

Just a few months back, ABC News settled a defamation lawsuit with Trump for $16 million, all thanks to statements Stephanopoulos made during a March 10, 2024, episode of 'This Week'. On-air, Stephanopoulos repeatedly stated that Trump had been “found liable for rape” in the civil case brought by E Jean Carroll.

Trump’s lawyers called the claim “patently and demonstrably false," accusing Stephanopoulos of making the statement “with actual malice or with a reckless disregard for the truth.”

While a New York jury in May 2023 did find Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation, they did not find him liable for “rape” as defined under New York’s strict criminal code.

In the end, ABC decided to settle. The deal included $15 million for Trump’s presidential library foundation and another $1 million to cover his legal costs. On top of that, ABC News issued an editor’s note expressing regret.

“ABC News and George Stephanopoulos regret statements regarding President Donald J. Trump made during an interview by George Stephanopoulos with Rep. Nancy Mace on ABC’s This Week on March 10, 2024," it read. The quiet settlement helped the network dodge a messy trial and the risk of exposing internal communications during discovery.