Don, you failed!
Gov rips Trump on P.R.’s hurricane horror
ALBANY – Gov. Cuomo wrapped up his latest trip to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico with a call Tuesday for President Trump to return to witness the continued devastation in person.
“More than 10 months since Hurricanes Irma and Maria struck the island, I saw firsthand how your administration’s continued neglect of Puerto Ricans has prolonged the pain and the suffering on the island,” Cuomo wrote in an open letter to Trump.
The President hasn’t been to Puerto Rico since his post Hurricane Maria visit Oct. 3, when he tossed paper towels and other supplies to crowds.
Cuomo said the Federal Emergency Management Agency was unprepared for the storm, which made the problems worse.
“Mr. President, your administration has failed the people of Puerto Rico,” Cuomo wrote. “The only way to truly appreciate the depth of the problem is to witness it for yourself, so I call on you to visit the American citizens struggling in Puerto Rico.
“If this were Florida or Texas or New York, would you have waited this long to return to an ongoing crisis?”
Cuomo has visited Puerto Rico five times since Maria, including a trip with a delegation from New York that began Monday and concluded Tuesday.
In his letter, he said that during his latest trip he saw people who still have to boil their water because of a lack of a clean water source, families still relying on power generators, and empty and abandoned homes.
He said that as President, Trump owes the residents of Puerto Rico an apology and a commitment to fully fund the island’s rebuilding.
“Mr. President, these are American citizens and they deserve more from you than paper towels,” he wrote.
A White House spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment.
Meanwhile, Cuomo also announced agricultural trade partnerships with Puerto Rico that will send New York apples, cabbages and onions to the island, and watermelons, mangoes and pumpkins from Puerto Rico to New York.