Day 253: Trump Lying About Puerto Rico Disaster Relief

It’s now been about two weeks since Puerto Rico was slammed by a major hurricane. Since Hurricane Maria made landfall, Donald Trump stumped for an Alabama Senate candidate, pushed for a healthcare bill that would strip healthcare from millions and went on dozens of tirades about the NFL, in addition to criticizing Puerto Rico for their debt.

The number of speeches dedicated to the disaster or subsequent recovery effort? Zero.

Finally realizing the severity of the situation affecting over three million America citizens, Trump is now proclaiming what an incredible job his people are doing in Puerto Rico.

Except the people on the ground aren’t buying it.

Locals who spoke with the Associated Press said relief efforts have been disorganized, delayed and scarce, particularly for those in remote areas.

Several people told the AP they have not received any federal help in their towns, and many are still without food and clean drinking water.

Jose Melendez, a member of Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives, said the federal employees who have been sent to the island to help are there to impress the media and are not helping relief efforts in rural areas.

“There are people literally just modeling their uniforms,” Melendez said. “People are suffering outside.”

While San Juan finally saw some relief, it was only after nearly two weeks of begging. Regarding the nearly 100 towns and cities that make up Puerto Rico, San Juan’s mayor said:

“They’re waiting anxiously and will be very grateful to you and to the American people if you continue to step up to the moral imperative that you’ve taken on all over the world to help those in need,” she said. “So help us.”

“And I know he can do it, because he did it yesterday with San Juan. Somebody heard me, and they just came to San Juan and things started moving and rolling. But this has to happen on a continuous basis with the entire island of Puerto Rico.”

Trump’s delay in helping American citizens continues to be shameful as his administration scrambles to change the narrative. Unfortunately for them, no amount of tweeting can fix a humanitarian crisis. More importantly and unfortunately for Puerto Ricans, Trump’s delay is risking more lives.

253 days in, 1209 to go

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