President Donald Trump on Monday briefly paused his attacks on protests at NFL games to address the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico.
The island is in the middle of a massive humanitarian crisis after it was slammed by Hurricane Maria last week. As many of Puerto Rico’s 3.4 million residents are without power and clean water, roads remain impassable and cellular service largely remains out,Gov. Ricardo Rosselló on Monday pleaded with Washington to send more federal aid.
In his comments Monday night, Trump insisted that deliveries of food, water and medical supplies are being handled well and instead pointed at the island’s ongoing financial problems.
He tweeted:
Texas & Florida are doing great but Puerto Rico, which was already suffering from broken infrastructure & massive debt, is in deep trouble..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2017
...It's old electrical grid, which was in terrible shape, was devastated. Much of the Island was destroyed, with billions of dollars....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2017
...owed to Wall Street and the banks which, sadly, must be dealt with. Food, water and medical are top priorities - and doing well. #FEMA
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2017
Trump also didn’t use his social media presence to encourage his followers to donate to Puerto Ricans in need. (If you’re looking for ways to help, you can find some here.)
In the hours leading up to the three tweets about Puerto Rico, the president continued his attacks on NFL protests and slammed CNN as “fake news.” Immediately after the tweets, he attacked Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for failing to support the latest GOP attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
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- This article originally appeared on HuffPost.