The White House on Tuesday played down news reports about the leader of the Federal Emergency Management Agency saying he didn’t know the nation had a hurricane season — a remark that led Democrats to assail the agency chief.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that FEMA acting Administrator David Richardson was joking when he told agency staff Monday that he was unaware that the U.S. has an official time period in which hurricanes threaten coastal states, spanning from June 1 to Nov. 30.
The season marks the period when hurricanes are most likely to hit the U.S. and when state and federal agencies take precautionary steps. It’s FEMA’s busiest time.
“FEMA is taking this seriously, contrary to some of the reporting we have seen from jokes that were made and leaks from meetings,” Leavitt said in response to a question about hurricane season.
