San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz was ubiquitous on the media circuit Friday attacking the Trump administration’s response to the successive hurricanes that have struck Puerto Rico this month with comments that border on hysterical:
San Juan mayor: "I cannot fathom the thought that the greatest nation in the world cannot figure out the logistics for a small island…" pic.twitter.com/R1N0xDT0fz
— NBC News (@NBCNews) September 29, 2017
BREAKING: “We are dying here … we are going to see something close to a genocide" if we don't get more help, San Juan mayor says. pic.twitter.com/Dlfi76m3v9
— NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt (@NBCNightlyNews) September 29, 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNR9qymV1-w
San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz: "There's a disconnect between what the plan says and what is really happening" https://t.co/BikieyjzMw
— CNN (@CNN) September 30, 2017
And with the Commonwealth on the verge of “genocide,” as she claimed, the mayor had time to have a t-shirt printed to show how serious the situation was:
Puerto Rico mayor wears "help us, we are dying" shirt during CNN interview https://t.co/ujPCFFwIEA pic.twitter.com/t1yZMj9rnQ
— The Hill (@thehill) September 30, 2017
Earlier this week her narrative was different.
Thank you to Carmen Yulin Cruz, the Mayor of San Juan, for your kind words on FEMA etc.We are working hard. Much food and water there/on way
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2017
But as I noted here on Monday, after a weekend of covering the NFL’s anti-America protests the media suddenly — almost all instantaneously — discovered the devastation of Hurricane Maria last week.
It’s important to observe the scope of this natural disaster.
https://twitter.com/TrevorGHouser/status/913886006515871744
A high level look at the status of roads across #PR as teams work through debris and other obstacles after #Maria. https://t.co/NwKCXQh1OX pic.twitter.com/CrgLZ72wvp
— FEMA (@fema) September 29, 2017
So are Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz’s anti-Trump rants to the media actually helping Puerto Rico, or is she just trying to politicize this unprecedented natural disaster?
https://twitter.com/Bridget_PJM/status/913962845200625664
Well, consider that Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló, who served as a Hillary Clinton delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention and as an Obama delegate in 2012, has been publicly complimentary of the Trump administration’s response.
.@ricardorossello, as @POTUS said: "We are with you, we will stay with you, and we will come back stronger than ever." https://t.co/cyjd88CrP7
— Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) September 30, 2017
Puerto Rico's Democrat Governor Dismantles Media Attacks on Trump's Response to Hurricane Irma https://t.co/ZEMumNOeaJ via @pjmedia_com
— Patrick Poole (@pspoole) September 26, 2017
Governor of Puerto Rico. There are more than 10,000 federal personnel on the ground aiding recovery efforts. https://t.co/MIBFD33X7p pic.twitter.com/VB46GTv0gz
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) September 26, 2017
And the mayor is pretty mouthy for someone who cold-heartedly ordered the doors to refugee centers closed just hours before Hurricane Maria hit last week:
Municipio de San Juan anuncia el cierre de los refugios. Asi lo dijo la alcaldesa Carmen Yulín Cruz. pic.twitter.com/vXZcrJD5Ny
— WKAQ 580 (@WKAQ580) September 20, 2017
One of the major obstacles to getting aid to Puerto Rico is the onerous Jones Act, which limits who can bring in shipments.
As soon as the request was received this week, it was granted.
Re: #JonesAct, @DHSgov just received official letter from 7 members of Congress asking for waiver, dated Monday but sent via regular mail
— Heather Swift, DHS spokesperson (@SpoxDHS) September 27, 2017
The mayor also demanded that someone be placed in charge of the federal government’s recovery efforts.
BREAKING: Mayor: "I am asking the president of the United States to make sure somebody is in charge that is up to the task of saving lives."
— NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt (@NBCNightlyNews) September 29, 2017
Totally ignoring that Trump had appointed Brig. Gen. Richard Kim to do exactly that the day before:
Pentagon sends general to Puerto Rico to oversee hurricane response https://t.co/ztlZeKmsRL via @dcexaminer
— Travis J. Tritten (@Travis_Tritten) September 27, 2017
In fairness, the mayor is not alone in her politicized whining.
https://twitter.com/JMichaelWaller/status/913919777483214848
So what exactly is the federal government doing to help Puerto Rico?
10k+ federal staff are on the ground in PR/USVI assisting with search & rescue, restoring power, & moving commodities. #Maria [📷: @USArmy] pic.twitter.com/8mbThIzD7T
— FEMA (@fema) September 25, 2017
#DoD continues to synchronize efforts with the @PRNationalGuard and @FEMA. READ: https://t.co/GdhUS4YCG0 pic.twitter.com/kElJPen72K
— Department of Defense 🇺🇸 (@DeptofDefense) September 29, 2017
Today, 3000+ National Guard members from the @PRNationalGuard, @VIGUARD and across the country continue to respond after Hurricane Maria. pic.twitter.com/jG81iJjUDX
— National Guard (@USNationalGuard) September 28, 2017
1,400 more National Guard headed to Puerto Rico this weekend. Hospital ship Comfort set sail from Norfolk, Va. today, will arrive Tuesday
— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) September 29, 2017
HAPPENING NOW: #USNSComfort underway from Norfolk, Virgina, for #PuertoRico to support Hurrricane #Maria relief ops. (File photo) @fema pic.twitter.com/jadAVr6tgz
— U.S. Navy (@USNavy) September 29, 2017
With some indications that the situation is beginning to improve.
.@USCG updates #port conditions for #PuertoRico and #USVI: San Juan now open with no restrictions https://t.co/19m1NM60qJ #Hurricane #Maria https://t.co/r1nTxUIyQP
— USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) September 26, 2017
Fuel was delivered to 200 gas stations & 19 hospitals in PR yesterday as movement of commodities continues to be a priority after #Maria. pic.twitter.com/n0LKXNDpXH
— FEMA (@fema) September 27, 2017
Reuters- Fuel imports, distribution in #PuertoRico starts to unclog https://t.co/MpzoThHM2l pic.twitter.com/RIwyLuTJMB
— Marianna Párraga (@mariannaparraga) September 28, 2017
But with remaining difficulties.
Puerto Rico supply chain breaks down: Thousands of supply containers sit idle https://t.co/EmZLBWDI2b pic.twitter.com/4zW7QsiQ2U
— Orlando Sentinel (@orlandosentinel) September 29, 2017
That has prompted newly minted media disaster relief experts to chime in:
https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/913762506103025665
Ospreys can also carry 3x as much as a Bell 429. I mention this bc Bell 412EP and Bell 429 were, IIRC, used in Haiti https://t.co/nw0t675278
— Liz Mair (@LizMair) September 29, 2017
The media has taken to sniping at each other as well.
There's a host in Puerto Rico on one cable news channel, there's a host reading "Cat in the Hat" on another channel pic.twitter.com/vw93tpElEe
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) September 30, 2017
Maybe Trump didn't pay attention to Puerto Rico on Sunday because he only read @BrianStelter's newsletter? pic.twitter.com/5HuhQWha5m
— Greg Pollowitz (@GPollowitz) September 30, 2017
You guys ever find that missing plane? https://t.co/853PGlQTzO
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) September 30, 2017
And the drive-by media criticism warrants some healthy skepticism.
It's not your imagination. The media really did pay less attention to Puerto Rico. https://t.co/93EbkzyF4v
— FiveThirtyEight (@FiveThirtyEight) September 29, 2017
Perhaps the mayor might be slightly biased for someone who said that Trump didn’t deserve to be president in the first place.
He tenido mis diferencias con ella y las sostengo pero no puedo negar que está preparada y que Trump no merece ser Pres.
— Carmen Yulín Cruz (@CarmenYulinCruz) November 7, 2016
So needless to say, this natural disaster is all going according to plan:
STAGES OF HURRICANES
1) Preparedness
2) Landfall
3) Reaction
4) Rescue
5) Grief
6) Rebuilding, Hope
7) Blame the Republican President— Razor (@hale_razor) August 27, 2017
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