‘This Is an Island, Surrounded by Water, Big Water, Ocean Water’: Everyone’s Talking About Trump’s Latest Puerto Rico Excuse
Administration Ignored What They Knew Would Be a Disaster
President Trump would like Americans to know the reason his administration’s terrible response to the humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico, caused by Hurricane Maria, after being impacted by Hurricane Irma, has been so bad.
Despite reports that the White House until at least Monday had no plan to intervene in assistance efforts, President Trump and White House officials have spent the entire week talking about what a great job his team, including FEMA, is doing for the people of Puerto Rico.
That’s false, as the mayor of San Juan has repeatedly insisted.
On Friday, Trump defended his efforts by offering as an excuse the fact that Puerto Rico “is an island, surrounded by water, big water, ocean water.”
Pres. Trump on Puerto Rico disaster response: “This is an island, surrounded by water, big water, ocean water.” https://t.co/GD5nSl5ftY
— NBC Nightly News (@NBCNightlyNews) September 29, 2017
That literally is his reason for not having sent in the military until now, for not having waived the law prohibiting non-U.S. vessels from delivering important supplies to the island, for not having ensured there were logistics plans in place.
“Water, big water.”
Trump went on to offer up that his administration is “closely coordinated with the territorial and local governments, which are totally and unfortunately unable to handle this catastrophic crisis on their own. Just totally unable to.
Trump also blamed “the tremendous amount of existing debt” Puerto Rico is facing as a good reason to not provide sufficient financial assistance.
Some responses via Twitter:
We’re so literally fucked. https://t.co/qiYSueOY69
— Matt McDermott (@mattmfm) September 29, 2017
This is a brain surrounded by water. Big water, ocean water #Resign https://t.co/nvIg1lTpUA
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) September 29, 2017
amazing, how Obama was able to deliver massive relief to the island of Haiti, which is surrounded by “big water” https://t.co/QYQIkLDdb4
— Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) September 29, 2017
“Big water.”
Did you ever imagine that we would have a president who routinely speaks like a toddler?
— SCOTUSMarshalMathers (@Danofran) September 29, 2017
Remember when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor & the U.S. couldn’t do anything about it because it’s in the middle of a big ocean with big water?
— William K. Wolfrum (@Wolfrum) September 29, 2017
If only someone had invented airplanes that could travel there faster over the big water https://t.co/6dXoHtYYlj
— Kendra Barkoff Lamy (@kabarkof) September 29, 2017
Oh wow! I didn’t realize it’s big ocean water. Now it makes sense why you spent 7 days attacking sports stars instead of helping Puerto Rico https://t.co/K1h2I0aReN
— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) September 29, 2017
Big water. Ocean water. Filled with dragons and pirates. Not good. pic.twitter.com/sEfmZg3h8p
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) September 29, 2017
“Bigly water. Like no one has seen before. Nobody knew the water was this big, believe me.And wet.Very wet. I have a house that is wet, btw”
— Alex (@WereRoach) September 29, 2017
My 8 y/o son just said “Maybe someone should give him a thesaurus. Very big big water is so 1st grade” 😂 #TrumpHasNoVocab #VelshiRuhle
— Sarah Jane Tucker (@hippymom_2) September 29, 2017
Big water. Milk people. Trump doesn’t have the best words. He has Mad Libs.
— HelpPuertoRico Lisa (@Lisa_Battleaxe) September 29, 2017
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