r/centrist

A top FEMA official is doubling down on his claim that he has been teleported against his will.

Gregg Phillips is in charge of response and recovery at FEMA and has repeated the claim on several podcasts, according to CNN.

Last year, in an episode of Onward, a podcast co-hosted by rightwing activist Catherine Engelbrecht, Phillips said his car was “lifted up” while driving and he was transported 40 miles away into a ditch near a church. In the same episode, he said he was teleported 50 miles away to a Waffle House in Rome, Georgia.

“I was with my boys one time, and I was telling them I was gonna go to Waffle House and get Waffle House. And I ended up at a Waffle House. This was in Georgia, and I end up at a Waffle House like 50 miles away from where I was,” Phillips said.

He added that teleporting is “no fun,” but an “incredible adventure.”

CNN reports that Phillips recently took to social media to further defend that claim, writing, “I know what I experienced,” and “haters gonna hate.”

Phillips appeared to have a Christian explanation, writing, “The Bible has many examples of the power of God.”

Phillips joined FEMA in December.

CNN's "no one is safe" framing serves an audience that reads Trump-era governance as inherently unstable, the fear-in-the-Cabinet narrative confirms that prior expectation and generates engagement through anxiety. The NYT's midterm-clock framing reflects its strength in political process coverage and appeals to readers who want power dynamics explained rather than dramatized. Reuters' Iran linkage reflects wire-service discipline: connecting personnel moves to geopolitical events gives the story global newsworthiness beyond the Washington bubble.

WaPo's use of Trump's own denial “wants to avoid 'massive shake-up'" suggests access journalism at work, likely from a White House source managing the story's temperature.