Trump Threatens to Pull FEMA Out of Puerto Rico

Trump Treats Puerto Rico Like a White Supremacist Would

President Donald Trump has just threatened to pull FEMA out of Puerto Rico.

It was clear from the start that President Donald Trump’s response to the two back-to-back hurricanes that decimated Puerto Rico was going to be bad. In partnership with FEMA and the Republican governors of Texas and Florida, the president’s response to the hurricanes that hit both those states was overall given two thumbs up. But Trump was too busy attacking Colin Kaepernick and the NFL’s players who are protesting racial oppression and police killings of Black people to focus on Puerto Rico.

And Puerto Rico was destroyed, decimated, wiped out. Today, less than 20 percent of the island has electricity, and many people remain without food and water. 

It is a disaster, and a disaster of Trump’s own making. 

Here’s what Trump said September 2, to Texas:

September 14, here’s what he said to Florida:

And on September 29, here’s what Trump said to Puerto Rico:

“Ultimately the government of Puerto Rico will have to work with us to determine how this massive rebuilding effort,” the Washington Post reported, “will be funded and organized, and what we will do with the tremendous amount of existing debt already on the island.”

“We will not rest, however, until the people of Puerto Rico are safe,” Trump continued. “These are great people. We want them to be safe and sound and secure. And we will be there every day until that happens.” 

Trump made those remarks while pushing his tax “reform” plans that will deliver tremendous tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans.

Thursday morning, citing a right wing reporter from the conservative media giant Sinclair group, Trump posted these tweets:

Puerto Rico’s financial woes are not “of their own making.” Puerto Rico didn’t take a credit card and go out and buy big screen TVs or pave their roads in gold. They aren’t, unlike Republicans, pushing massive tax cuts. Puerto Rico’s financial problems are largely the U.S. government’s fault.

Assuming Trump is quoting Sharyl Attkisson correctly, she should have known what comedian Samantha Bee does:

Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico on September 20. It was days before recovery could begin. But barely three weeks after the category 5 hurricane touched down. the President says we can’t keep FEMA and the military in Puerto Rico “forever.” 

Trump has also made clear that, unlike with Texas and Florida, federal rebuilding assistance will come in the form of a loan. 

President Trump literally wants to load an already nearly bankrupt territory with more, massive debt.

There is exactly zero reason to treat Puerto Rico any differently from Texas or Florida.

If anything, that need and deserve more, not less, help.

MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough just noted that Trump is treating Puerto Rico because “these are people who do not look like him.” He’s right.

So why would Trump treat Puerto Rico like second class citizens?

There are two reasons.

One: they cannot vote for or against him.

Two: Trump is a white supremacist. 

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