The cities of Gary, Indiana, and Memphis, Tennessee, are both facing prolonged power outages thanks to recent storms, and it seems the Democrats have found a new talking point to use to attack President Trump and Republicans. We'll start with Gary, first. The city has now gone nearly two weeks without power.
JUST IN: Thousands in Gary, Indiana, have now gone 12 days without electricity after severe storms devastated the area.
— Polymarket (@Polymarket) August 23, 2026
Pennsylvania Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta called it a "disgrace."
What’s happening in Gary, Indiana, is a national disgrace. The fact that FEMA and state agencies aren’t rushing support to restore power is the perfect example of the rot in this administration and its stooges.
— Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (@malcolmkenyatta) August 21, 2026
But he's leaving out some important facts. First, on August 14-15, NIPSCO crews who were working to restore power were shot at by assailants. That paused work, which only resumed with security details. President Trump declared an emergency after the storms, and FEMA will assist. FEMA supports a wider emergency response; utilities are responsible for power restoration.
Here's who runs Gary, by the way.
gary indiana not having power is an amazing story of diversity
— retard mode ✞ (@retardmode) August 23, 2026
>entire city council is black
>every electric company executive is black
>black residents can’t stop shooting at vehicles working to restore power
and they all blame racism for going without power for so long https://t.co/asCK1PVJe8 pic.twitter.com/aamnv3WLTa
And someone who lived in Gary explained the situation further.
Gary is our former home town. Let me tell you why they are still without power:
— Kira (@Kiradavis) August 24, 2026
-People keep shooting at the NIPSCO (their power company) trucks
-roving gangs of thieves and home invaders and limited police presence
-infrastructure is poorly maintained; untrimmed trees are… https://t.co/z2OnYR6WQ6
The post reads:
- infrastructure is poorly maintained; untrimmed trees are making access to power lines difficult; damaged streets and sidewalks; abandoned buildings everywhere
- city leadership has been hopelessly lazy and corrupt for decades; many like the new mayor but he has clearly not prepared the city for emergency
Our senior citizen uncle is there and refuses to leave his home because he knows if he leaves there will be nothing to come back to. Everyone there is at the mercy of the criminals, the weather and a chronically incompetent local government. It may also interest you to know that Gary is considered the bluest city in America with nearly total Democrat support. I’m not one to defend the power companies. NIPSCO has their own issues. But the reason Gary is still offline is because most of the people there keep voting for more of the same at every turn. The city has everything it needs to be a great city. It’s on Lake Michigan, has incredible architecture and is just 30 miles from Chicago. It lost a lot of revenue when the steel mills closed but there has never been a good reason for its failure decade after decade. It’s poor leadership and a disengaged population. It’s not racism. It’s apathy and thievery
Memphis, Tennessee, is the other city facing a prolonged outage. It lost power on Saturday night and may not have power restored until Thursday.
State Rep. Justin Pearson, who has repeatedly made a fool out of himself over things like gun control, blamed the outage on racism, too.
After a thunderstorm last night, 100,000 households in Memphis are without power - possibly until Thursday. It’s 90 degrees outside.
— Justin J. Pearson (@Justinjpearson) August 23, 2026
Another majority Black, working class city left in the dark.
Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) is responsible for utilities and owned by the City of Memphis.
Mayor of Memphis Tennessee, Paul Young (D). pic.twitter.com/nPcTmNo5Wn
— Snarknado ⚓️ 🇺🇸 (@ZannSuz) August 24, 2026
Of the 13 members of the Memphis City Council, seven are black. Are they racist?
Who runs Memphis??? Just curios?
— Mr. Estbom (@estbom) August 24, 2026
If you can answer that question. Try this. How long have democrats held the highest seat in Memphis?
Now, you'll have a good idea of where to lay your complaint.
While the Memphis City Council is technically non-partisan, the majority identify as Democrats. So this tracks.
Yes, it’s all a plot by Mother Nature, evil Republicans, and the super evil electric company to make black people unhappy.
— The🐰FOO (@PolitiBunny) August 24, 2026
Are you high or just stupid? https://t.co/5FzSvgr281
It's always someone else's fault.
Went 6 days without power from Hurricane Irma
— Florida MAGA Godzilla 2.0 (@OnlyinFlorida2) August 23, 2026
Went 4 days without power after Hurricane Milton.
Guess what? The majority of my working class neighborhood is white. https://t.co/aSl6rDM77Z
That's (D)ifferent. Several years ago, this writer's neighborhood went without power for several days following storms. She ended up staying in a hotel and lost lots of refrigerated and frozen food thanks to that storm.
I think what they’re ultimately getting at is God is racist and punished non-White people via natural disasters https://t.co/fzpIb8IguB
— Gary (@plzbepatient) August 24, 2026
Which is ironic, because leftists will often say bad weather in red states is God's punishment for not taking climate change seriously. Now it's racism.
Keep the framing in mind, too. Less than 24 hours after the storm, Pearson was demanding power be restored and blaming it on racism.
By 7:25 PM on Sunday night, MLGW said it had already restored power to 70,000 customers.
#MLGW and contract crews have restored nearly 70,000 customers since a bow echo storm hit the area on Saturday evening. Below is a break down of the process. Crews will continue to work until all customers have power. Call 544-6500 for outage updates. Call 528-4465 for… pic.twitter.com/pQ8jRiu7do
— MLGW (@MLGW) August 24, 2026
So that means most Memphis residents had power restored within a day.
But Democrats never let a crisis go to waste.
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