After Criticizing Puerto Rico Leadership, Trump Pivots, Calls Out ‘Fake News’

President Donald Trump speaks to the National Association of Manufactures at the Mandarin Oriental hotel, Friday, Sept. 29, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Donald Trump speaks to the National Association of Manufactures at the Mandarin Oriental hotel, Friday, Sept. 29, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
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In response to pushback from San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz — who expressed frustration with the administration’s characterization of its response to devastation in Puerto Rico on Friday — President Donald Trump first blamed the U.S. territory’s leadership.

He then returned to his usual line of critique: blaming the media.

In a Saturday morning tweet storm, Trump lashed out at Cruz, blaming her and other’s in Puerto Rico for having “poor leadership” and claiming the disaster relief should be a “community effort.”

About 40 minutes later he tweeted again, saying the media is responsible for the critiques of his response to the recovery efforts and said specifically that CNN and NBC are “going out of their way to disparage our great First Responders” as a way to “get Trump.”

His comments follow his repeated critiques of the media for not showing the federal government’s recovery efforts in Puerto Rico in a good light. Trump has brought special attention to the U.S. territory’s debt in recent days, at one point suggesting that Puerto Rico’s “broken infrastructure” and debt may have contributed to the devastation.  

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Notable Replies

  1. Bet he doesn’t go to PR, citing other pressing matters…like golf!

  2. I’m sure Sweet Sarah Huckabee Sanders will sort it all out !

  3. Donald Trump shames all Americans every damned time he opens his mouth or picks up his phone. And we shame ourselves every day we allow him to continue.

  4. The media just doesn’t get it, they are to only report Trump’s propaganda.

  5. Avatar for pshah pshah says:

    The general who ran the U.S. military relief operation after Hurricane Katrina is among the chorus of critics who now say the delay in getting the U.S. military to Puerto Rico is at the heart of the island’s unfolding humanitarian crisis.

    “The Navy and Air Force could have been there Sunday,” Ret. Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré said Thursday to NBC’s Andrea Mitchell. “Could have opened the port, could have opened the air field. Why the hell has it taken this long to do that? That is what we do in the military.”

    We’ll hear in the coming days and weeks of how Trump’s unconscionable delay in providing aid for Puerto Rico caused loss of life and unnecessary suffering.

    Funny how in both Katrina and Maria, the “other people” suffered the most from the federal government’s mismanagement.

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