Obama photographer highlights one key difference between Donald Trump and former President's disaster responses

Trump has been criticised for the way he's handled the Harvey disaster. Photo / AP

By Mike Wright

The former photographer for Barack Obama has highlighted the ex-President's response to disasters following criticism of Donald Trump's approach to Hurricane Harvey.

Pete Souza, a former White House photographer, posted pictures of Obama visiting victims of natural disasters including one of him embracing a victim of Hurricane Sandy, the Daily Telegraph reports.

The posts come after President Trump has faced criticism for saying he'd experienced the devastation of the hurricane 'first hand'.

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President Obama with a victim of Hurricane Sandy. There are no Democrats or Republicans hurting in Houston; there are just Americans. At a time like this, it shouldn't be about selling baseball hats or commenting on crowd size. It's about helping our fellow human beings. Pets too. This storm is catastrophic, not epic. Thousands of people are affected. Please consider donating to the many charities doing good work in Texas and other states to come. I am donating to the Red Cross and other local charities today but please feel free to comment on other worthy charities that you would recommend to me and others. (UPDATE: As one of your fellow followers points out, The NY Times has a good list of how to help victims and avoid scams. I posted the link in my profile. But keep suggesting others.)

A post shared by Pete Souza (@petesouza) on Aug 30, 2017 at 6:17am PDT

White House spokeswoman, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, later had to clarified that he'd had first hand accounts of the aftermath from emergency workers.

After being pressed by reporters on what the president meant by 'first hand', she said: "He met with a number of state and local officials who are eating, sleeping, breathing the Harvey disaster. He talked extensively with the governor, who certainly is right in the midst of every bit of this, as well as the mayors from several of the local towns that were hit hardest.

After witnessing first hand the horror & devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey,my heart goes out even more so to the great people of Texas!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 30, 2017

"And detailed briefing information throughout the day yesterday talking to a lot of the people on the ground. That certainly is a firsthand account."

Hurricane Harvey and the ensuing flooding have killed more than 30 people and destroyed tens of thousands of homes since it hit Texas last Friday. A massive clear-up and reconstruction effort is now underway as the flood waters start to recede.

This is the best photo they could find for "witnessing first hand" pic.twitter.com/WoiCA7Piz4

— Ashley Feinberg (@ashleyfeinberg) August 31, 2017

President Trump has also come under fire for other aspects of his tour of the crisis area such as wearing his own merchandise, including a USA cap, and bragging about the size of the crowd when he gave an address to residents in the city of Corpus Christi.

Meanwhile even Mr Trump's Vice President, Mike Pence, has been seen getting more hands-on in Texas as he helped with the clean up and hugged Harvey victims in Rockport.

Yet there is another way in which President Trump has distinguished himself from his predecessors: The billionaire has pledged to donate $1 million dollars to the Harvey relief efforts.