Tim Alberta Trashes Katie Pavlich Over Hurricane Claim, but an Old Post Comes Back to Bite Him

It’s impossible to throw a rock into a room full of mainstream journalists and not hit a raving hypocrite, and Tim Alberta is no exception. A staff writer over at The Atlantic, one of the most laughably left-wing outlets in the world, Alberta has come a long way since his days at National Review. That was on display on Saturday after launched an attack on Townhall editor Katie Pavlich. 

On Friday, Pavlich shared an anecdote centering on the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene in North Carolina. In it, she described what she had heard from a friend in the area.

There have been a multitude of reports out of the flood-ravaged areas surrounding Asheville that have shared a similar sentiment. It is not exactly unbelievable or crazy to suggest that a lot of people do feel abandoned and let down by an inconsistent federal response. Certainly, it’s far more crazy to suggest that everyone is “very happy across the board,” which is what President Joe Biden on Friday.

SEE: Joe Biden’s Response to Hurricane Helene Causes Outrage and Concern 

Regardless, Pavlich’s post triggered Alberta, who rushed to mock her journalism and slam her for using an anonymous source to report on the hurricane’s impact.

All you can do is roll your eyes. Alberta works for an outlet that has infamously produced dozens of hit pieces targeting Republicans using anonymous sources. One of the most infamous was a piece claiming Donald Trump called dead American servicemembers “suckers and losers.” That was an anonymously-sourced piece, by the way. It was eventually denied on the record by dozens of people, yet has been repeated over and over throughout the 2024 presidential election. 

So it’s just a bit rich for Alberta to swipe at Pavlich for using anonymous sources, something The Atlantic has done many times. Besides, why is he so upset by her post? Is he really suggesting no one on the ground feels abandoned and desperate? That’s what he wants to go with? 

Of course, as the saying goes, there’s always a tweet. Guess what Alberta did back in 2017 when Hurricane Harvey hit Houston? You guessed it. He used a single, anonymous source to report on the devastation. 

At the time, Alberta was probably hoping that the damage done by Harvey was “10x” worse than Hurricane Katrina. That would have been great for his politics given Trump was president. In the end, that didn’t prove to be true (at least not regarding loss of life and the extent of the damage). Funny how Pavlich isn’t allowed to use a friend’s word to report on a hurricane, but Alberta is, right? At least her reporting appears to be largely accurate.

Alberta and so many in the mainstream press are jokes. They truly believe they exist on a higher plane when they are nothing but partisan hacks masquerading as professionals.