Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says asking who’s to blame for Kerrville flood deaths is ‘word choice of losers’

At a Tuesday afternoon press conference about the Texas Hill Country floods that have so far claimed 119 lives, Gov. Greg Abbott said asking who’s to blame for the tragedy is the “word choice of losers.”

Abbott’s schoolyard language came in response to a reporter who asked the Republican governor if he planned to conduct an investigation into the potential failures around the flood response.

“‘Who’s to blame?’ Know this, that’s the word choice of losers,” Abbott said. “Let me explain one thing about Texas. Every square inch of our state cares about football. Every football team makes mistakes. The losing teams are the ones who try to point out who is to blame. The championship teams are the ones who say don’t worry about it, we got this.”
But the football metaphor didn’t end there.

“We’re going to make sure that we go score again, that we win this game,” Abbott added. “The way winners talk is they don’t point fingers. They talk about solutions.”

Online critics have pounced on Abbott, saying it’s hard to see how anyone can interpret the state’s rising death toll from the floods as “winning.”

Still, the governor’s attempted deflection appears to be in lock-step with the words other elected officials who have commented on the tragedy.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz tried to characterize those seeking accountability over the flood deaths as “partisan finger pointing,” while U.S. Rep. Roy even threw in his own football metaphor, calling speculation about possible failures “Monday morning quarterbacking.”

Just the same, questions continue to mount about the official response to flood, especially after revelations that it took four hours between the National Weather Service warning of a “catastrophic flood” at 1:14 a.m. Friday to the first public post by Kerrville-area officials at 5:16 a.m.

Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said Tuesday that officials are in the process of putting together a timeline of the response but added that they have other pressing matters with which to contend.

When asked about flood preparedness at a Wednesday morning press conference, Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring Jr. replied, “Frankly, I’m more focused on the future than the past.” Kerr County also has failed to obtain a siren system to raise alerts during flash floods, according to news reports — something that neither taxpayers nor the state have so far been willing to spring for. 
During the Texas Legislature’s most recent session, lawmakers failed to pass House Bill 13, which would have established a statewide plan for disaster response, including better alert systems and a grant program for counties to invest in new emergency communication equipment and infrastructure such as radio towers.

Rep. Wes Virdell, a Republican whose district includes Kerr County, voted against HB 13. He now tells the Texas Tribune he regrets his vote.

“I can tell you in hindsight, watching what it takes to deal with a disaster like this, my vote would probably be different now,” the freshman lawmaker said.
At the legislature’s June conclusion, Abbott called a special legislative session, scheduled to begin July 21. Topics to be addressed are entirely up to the governor’s discretion and the finalized agenda has’t yet been released. An initial agenda doesn’t include HB 13, but the governor has time to add any additional items before the session gets underway.

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This article appears in Jun 26 – Jul 9, 2025.