Puerto Ricans slam Trump for saying hurricane response was ‘successful’
ORLANDO, Fla. — Puerto Rican leaders in Central Florida were outraged Tuesday over President Trump’s remarks in the Oval Office calling the federal response to Hurricane Maria “incredibly successful.”
“Tell that to the 3,000 people who died,” said Jose Rodriguez, the priest in charge at the Episcopal Church of Jesus of Nazareth in Azalea Park. “Tell that to the millions of people without power. Tell that to the 44 people huddled in hotel rooms today in Central Florida wondering if they’ll be homeless Saturday morning.”
Trump, speaking about preparations for Hurricane Florence as it barrels down on North Carolina, said his administration’s response to the September 2017 storm, which the Puerto Rico government said last month was responsible for 2,975 deaths and resulted in thousands of evacuees to Central Florida, was “one of the best jobs that’s ever been done.”
“I think that Puerto Rico was an incredible unsung success,” Trump said in a CBS News transcript, comparing the situation there with Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Hurricane Irma in Florida. “Texas, we have been given A pluses for, Florida, we have been given A pluses for. I think in a way the best job we did was (in) Puerto Rico, but nobody would understand that.”
Trump said the response was “the hardest one by far ... because of the island nature” and the fact supplies had to be shipped in.
Jimmy Torres Velez, head of Boricua Vota, a voter outreach group. blamed much of the situation on the island today on the Trump administration’s “lack of preparation and the lack of heart, of having empathy, for the suffering of the people of Puerto Rico . ... He should be impeached just for his lack of empathy.”