Puerto Rico Mayor Criticizes Trump for Mediocre Disaster Response

Sergio Conner

October 1, 2017

The mayor of San Juan is begging for help from federal officials as Puerto Rico recovers from Hurricane Maria.

"The tweets this morning are despicable, are deplorable, are not statesman-like at all", said New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, a Democrat born in Puerto Rico.

Saturday morning, Trump tweeted from his golf resort in Bedminster, NJ, "Such poor leadership ability from the mayor of San Juan and others who are not able to get their workers to help". "We want to make sure that folks are complete aware of what they're flying into".

Trump insisted Friday that his administration was doing an "incredible job" with relief efforts.

"I am begging anyone who can hear us to save us from dying", Carmen Yulin Cruz said into the cameras.

"Actually, I was asking for help - I wasn't saying anything nasty about the president", Cruz said.

Celebs like John Legend and Lady Gaga took to Twitter to criticize the President and show their support for Puerto Rico.

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The President again praised the federal government's response on the island, which is grappling with the devastating impact of Hurricane Maria, saying the 10,000 federal workers there were doing a "fantastic job".

Most of the USA territory's 3.4 million residents remain without power and have struggled to find clean water and fuel 11 days after the hurricane.

"The mayor's living on a cot, and I hope the President has a good day at golf", said Honoré, who led the military response in 2005 to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

Cruz's comments came after Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke told reporters at the White House on Thursday that the administration's response so far "is a good-news story in terms of our ability to reach people". "Puerto Rico was totally destroyed". She also said the death toll had been low for a storm the size of Hurricane Maria.

"This is, damn it, this is not a good news story", Mayor Yulín Cruz said.

"The end of my statement about good news", Duke said, "was it was good news that the people of Puerto Rico, the many public servants of the U.S. and the government of Puerto Rico are working together and I do believe that that is the way - part of the way - we believe, and it's nice to see the communities together trying to recover and support each other". Cruz said, "this is not a good news story - this is a people are dying story".

"Let me stress this: I am committed to collaborating with everybody", he said. As the reality of the situation in Puerto Rico became more apparent, Trump was golfing, working on his travel ban, starting a feud with NFL players who protest during the national anthem, and escalating a war of words with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.