A recent study determined nearly 3,000 Puerto Ricans died due to devastation caused by Hurricane Maria. Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello has accepted the findings of the report.
However, that hasn’t stopped President Donald Trump from continuing to brag about the federal response to the storm. During a briefing about Hurricane Florence with FEMA administrator Brock Long on Tuesday, Trump called the response in Puerto Rico “an incredible, unsung success” and “one of the best jobs that’s ever been done.”
San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, an outspoken critic of the administration’s handling of Hurricane Maria, was quick to respond on Twitter, saying the president “simply does not get it.”
Trump simply does not get it. Thus his neglect towards Puerto Rico cost about 3,000 lives. Unfortunately, it seems he will never get it.
— Carmen Yulín Cruz (@CarmenYulinCruz) September 11, 2018
Trump has made a habit of bragging about his government’s response in Puerto Rico despite a death toll that was similar to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and Hurricane Katrina. Trump previously said “we did a fantastic job” in Puerto Rico and that the response had improved the “brand” of the Coast Guard.
It took more than nine months for clean water to be restored to some parts of the island. Some residents were without power for nearly a year.
Trump infamously tossed paper towels into a crowd at a relief center in Puerto Rico last October and claimed residents didn’t need flashlights when only 7 percent of power had been restored on the island. The president referred to Cruz and other critics as “politically motivated ingrates” in an October tweet.
Trump also discussed preparations for Hurricane Florence, which is expected to make landfall in the mid-Atlantic later this week, calling the storm “tremendously big and tremendously wet.”
Trump says the U.S. is “as ready as anybody’s ever been” for Hurricane Florence, calling the storm “tremendously big and tremendously wet” #tictocnews pic.twitter.com/XVkok3ikEi
— TicToc by Bloomberg (@tictoc) September 11, 2018