‘Hilarious Elitism’: GOP Governor Fires Back After CBS Says State Can’t Handle Emergency Response

Governor Tate Reeves (R-MS) slammed CBS News host Margaret Brennan after she suggested during an interview with Vice President J.D. Vance that states like Mississippi wouldn’t be able to coordinate a response to natural disasters without the federal government’s help. 

Reeves ripped into Brennan on X after she pushed back on President Donald Trump’s proposals to transform the role of FEMA during her Sunday interview with Vance. Brennan said that states like Mississippi, Alabama, and Kentucky would suffer if FEMA took a reduced role in natural disaster response. 

“HILARIOUS elitism by [Brennan] claiming that Mississippians know less about emergency management than DC bureaucrats — all because her favorite Democrats in CA and NC have failed their constituents,” Reeves posted on X. “[Vance] did a great job handling her condescending questions. The disdain these people have for any Americans outside of their little bubble is so pathetic and revealing.”

HILARIOUS elitism by @margbrennan @CBSNews claiming that Mississippians know less about emergency management than DC bureaucrats – all because her favorite Democrats in CA and NC have failed their constituents.@JDVance did a great job handling her condescending questions. The… pic.twitter.com/YHWqWJhp6h

— Governor Tate Reeves (@tatereeves) January 26, 2025

Trump promised on Friday that he would sign an executive order that would “fundamentally” overhaul and transform FEMA. He also suggested that he may get rid of the agency altogether and hand over responsibility to the states. 

“You know FEMA has specialized expertise that some of these states just don’t have,” Brennan told Vance. “How will lower income states, the Mississippis, the Kentuckys, the Alabamas, be able to do this for themselves without federal help?”

Vance replied by saying that the reason behind Trump’s proposal to revamp FEMA was to ensure that disaster victims were able to receive support and aid as efficiently as possible. 

“The president, to be clear, is not saying we’re going to leave anybody behind,” Vance said. “He’s saying that the way that we administer these resources, some of which is coming from the federal level, some of which is coming from the state level, we’ve got to get the bureaucrats out of the way and get the aid to the people who need it most.” 

Trump has said it would be better if states were in total control of recovery efforts and the federal government would fund a certain percentage of the response. His proposals to change FEMA come after he has criticized the agency’s response to both Hurricanes Helene and Milton, saying that the agency slowed its response because many of those impacted were in conservative rural areas. 

During a Friday stop in Asheville, North Carolina, Trump spoke out about a FEMA scandal first reported on by The Daily Wire where relief workers skipped homes because of Trump signs or flags.

“A whistleblower testified that some FEMA employees refused to help people who display Trump signs on their property. I think that’s true, isn’t it? I read that. That’s not nice, that’s not too nice, is it? But whoever those property people were, thank you very much,” Trump said.

In November, The Daily Wire broke a story that FEMA supervisor Marn’i Washington had ordered relief workers in Lake Placid to “avoid homes advertising Trump.” These instructions were given in person and verbally, whistleblowers told The Daily Wire. At least 20 homes were skipped due to the orders.