Dem blasts Trump’s ‘bizarre’ Puerto Rico visit

Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) took to the House floor on Wednesday to condemn President Trump’s visit to Puerto Rico meant to promote federal response efforts to the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria.

While in the island Tuesday, Trump compared Puerto Rico’s official death toll to a “real catastrophe like Katrina,” joked that disaster aid for Puerto Rico was straining the budget and tossed rolls of paper towels into a crowd.

Gallego blasted Trump’s remarks and behavior as a tone-deaf response to residents still facing widespread power outages, severe flooding and a lack of running water and food supplies.

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“I’m not sure Donald Trump understands the meaning of the word leadership,” Gallego said in a House floor speech. “Instead, yesterday we were treated to the bizarre spectacle of the president of the United States throwing rolls of paper towels into a crowd.”

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said Tuesday that the official death toll from Hurricane Maria had risen to 34, up from the total of 16 provided to Trump during his visit. Experts expect the death count to keep rising as recovery efforts proceed.

Trump has been on the defensive about his administration’s response to Hurricane Maria.

Following a plea for aid on Friday by San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, Trump over the weekend said the mayor was being “nasty.”

“The mayor of San Juan, who was very complimentary only a few days ago, has now been told by the Democrats that you must be nasty to Trump,” Trump tweeted. “Such poor leadership ability by the mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help.”

“They want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort,” he continued. “10,000 Federal workers now on Island doing a fantastic job.”

Trump, during his visit on Tuesday, praised Rosselló for “giving us the highest grades” and noted he “did not play politics.” He notably left the San Juan mayor out of his remarks.

Gallego, a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, suggested Trump is operating by a double standard.

“The outrageously poor response to the devastation in Puerto Rico is the best illustration yet that President Trump only cares about people who look like him, or vote for him, or make the kind of money that he makes,” Gallego said.

He concluded his speech by saying in Spanish: “Puerto Ricans are stronger than Donald Trump believes.”

“We can’t wait anymore,” Gallego added. “We are with you all.”

In a separate House floor speech, another Hispanic Caucus member, Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.), said he was “frankly horrified by our president’s performance.”

“They don’t need paper towels tossed at them like T-shirts at a sports arena. They need helicopters, bridges, cell towers and generators,” said Gutiérrez, who visited Puerto Rico over the weekend to view hurricane damage.