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A reporter is facing backlash over their viral interview with a father who lost several family members in the deadly Texas floods.
In a viral clip from the TV interview, an unidentified reporter questioned J.J. Jarmon, a flood survivor who lives near Big Sandy Creek, about his wife and son, who were killed in the catastrophic floods that hit central Texas.
“Your son has been found? How’s he doing?” the CBS Austin reporter asked, to which Jarmon responded, “He is no longer..."
The reporter admitted how he "misunderstood" what Jarmon said earlier about his deceased child and wife. "I’m so sorry," the interviewer added.
Jarmon went on to explain how his son, Braxton, his wife, and his daughter "fell through the tracks of the plywood when it fell into the rill." The reporter interrupted Jarmon's account, asking him to repeat his son's name and spell it out for him.
“I’m so sorry for your losses,” the interviewer continued, before asking Jarmon, “How are you feeling today?”
Jarmon responded to the question, saying, “he’s managing the past few days since this has happened.”
The reporter continued to press Jarmon about his missing daughter, Felicity, asking how his "anxiety" has been "as a parent."
“The anxiety of it is really crazy because I’m not really happy with the fact that she hasn’t been found. I’m happy for all the support, and I do understand there’s a lot of circumstances, debris,” Jarmon answered.
The interviewer went on to admit that he didn't want to ask an "insensitive question," but he wanted to know if Jarmon had "any hope at all at this point." Jarmon revealed that he wasn't optimistic based on what he's lived through.
"I really don’t think so. There’s no way," the father said.
Social media users blasted the interviewer's line of questioning amid the father's tragic loss.
"This poor man. He has lost his family. The reporter needs to stop," a TikToker wrote.
"I'm so very sorry for this man. I don't know how he is still standing but this interview is completely inappropriate," another user commented.
"This reporter needs a lesson in sympathy and how and what not to ask to people who are grieving and still have not yet processed their own feelings," a third person added.
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