Trump Gets Slammed for Suddenly Announcing Puerto Rican Aid Package — Three Years After Hurricanes, Just Weeks Before The Election

Sarah RumpfSep 18th, 2020, 5:34 pm
 

President Donald Trump announced a new aid package for Puerto Rico on Friday, and drew swift condemnation on Twitter for his sudden interest in providing assistance for disasters that happened three years ago — but affecting a key voting demographic mere weeks before the November elections.

The multi-billion aid package Trump unveiled at a White House press conference was viewed by many as an attempt to improve Trump’s approval ratings with Puerto Rican voters in Florida — America’s largest swing state and one that many political observers believe to be a must-win for Trump to be re-elected.

“Puerto Rico’s been hit very, very hard by a lot of different storms,” said Trump, “and they’re great people, it’s a great place, I know it well.”

Trump faced not only follow-up questions from skeptical reporters but also a flurry of tweets pointing out the patently obvious political motivations underlying the financial assistance, coming so long after Hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated Puerto Rico in September 2017, causing billions of dollars in damages, leaving many residents without power or running water or even homeless, and massive damage to the territory’s agricultural industry and infrastructure like roads, communications networks, and the power grid.

New York Times’ Miami bureau chief Patricia Mazzei posted a thread of tweets outlining the dire situation in Puerto Rico over the past few years, starting with an exasperated “Here we go again.” Several others pointed out Trump’s own past criticism of prior aid sent to Puerto Rico and other efforts to provide more assistance during his administration.

At least this time, Trump didn’t throw paper towels at anyone.

Watch the video above, via Fox News.

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Sarah Rumpf - Contributing Editor

Sarah Rumpf joined Mediaite in 2020 and is a Contributing Editor focusing on politics, law, and the media. A native Floridian, Sarah attended the University of Florida, graduating with a double major in Political Science and German, and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the UF College of Law. Sarah's writing has been featured at National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason, Law&Crime, Independent Journal Review, Texas Monthly, The Capitolist, Breitbart Texas, Townhall, RedState, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Austin-American Statesman, and her political commentary has led to appearances on television, radio, and podcast programs across the globe. Follow Sarah on Threads, Twitter, and Bluesky.