Donald Trump on Wednesday morning blamed Puerto Rico for being in the path of Tropical Storm Dorian and once again attacked San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz while heaping advance praise on FEMA workers, demanding people thank them.
Tweeted Trump: “We are tracking closely tropical storm Dorian as it heads, as usual, to Puerto Rico. FEMA and all others are ready, and will do a great job. When they do, let them know it, and give them a big Thank You – Not like last time. That includes from the incompetent Mayor of San Juan!”
On Tuesday, Trump repeated the lie about the amount of aid sent to the island after Hurricane Maria. Additionally, in both tweets Trump appeared to blame Puerto Rico for being in the storm’s path (“As usual,” “Will it ever end?”),.
Congress has only approved $42 billion, in fact, and only a fraction has been spent. CNN’s John Berman spoke with Cruz on Tuesday night, asking her about the president’s ongoing lie.
Said Cruz: “We say to the president of the United States, will his lie ever end? Will that ever end? Will his racism and vindictive behavior towards the people of Puerto ever end? As you have said, this is not how a president behaves. This is not how a human behaves in the face of adversity. I have to thank the American people, because once again, they have stepped up to the plate.”
“The president continues to express lies,” she continued, “because the truth really does not suit him. As you said, it is not $92 billion … It’s close between $12.6 and $14 billion that’s come to Puerto Rico and still, things have not worked appropriately. Things continue to change. Different attitudes and different laws and restrictions are brought upon Puerto Rico which are different from any other jurisdiction. However I have to say it appears, it appears that FEMA has learned some of the lessons from the past from Irma and Maria. I just got off the phone with Alejandro de la Campa, and it appears they have, you know, 3.2 million liters of water. They have five warehouses now in Puerto Rico. He told me that they have around 200,000 blue tarps. So it seems like some people have learned the lessons of the past, or are willing to say that they didn’t do right by us the first time, and they’re trying to do their best. That is not the case with the President of the United States. We are not going to be concerned by, frankly, his behavior, his lack of understanding, and it is ludicrous. 3,000 Puerto Ricans did not open their eyes this morning because this racist man did not have it within him to do his job. So get out of the way, President Trump, and let the people that can do the job get the job done.”
