![]() ![]() And most important of all, the people of Puerto Rico deserve better than that. I shouldn't have to write an article about the President of the United States - Democrat, Republican or anything else - and have to figure out ways of transcribing a crude racist joke for my readers. And whose 2016 presidential campaign, lest it be forgotten, was kicked off with racist remarks about undocumented Mexican immigrants. citizens in Puerto Rico went without power for months and barely had drinking. Sure, the crowd laughed at his joke - he's the leader of the most powerful country in the world and is well known to have a thin skin, so who wouldn't? - but that doesn't make it any less offensive, particularly coming from a man whose idea of expressing empathy to Latinx people whose lives have been destroyed is to toss paper towels at them. Trump, 73, was criticized in the storm’s aftermath and accused of failing to meet the territory’s needs, as U.S. Trump says Puerto Rico in an affected Spanish accent three times in a row. Puh-werto Rico! And we also love Puerto Rico." "We are also praying for the people of Puh-werto Rico. But that raises the question: How do I accurately transcribe the difference between when he said Puerto Rico's name while ridiculing it and when he did not? Lest you think this was an accident, he mocked the American commonwealth's name not once, not twice, but three times in a row - and then, for good measure, pronounced it without the mockery, just in case you were still unsure that it was his intention to ridicule a people who are still reeling from a devastating natural disaster.Īt this point, my job as a journalist is to transcribe what Trump said for you the reader. You see, during a speech about the devastation in Puerto Rico caused by Hurricane Maria, President Donald Trump decided to mock the name "Puerto Rico" by saying it in a stereotypical Spanish accent. ![]() While I could just ignore the details about that challenge and instead dispassionately describe the events that occurred, I think explaining the nature of the obstacle that arose sheds light on the deeper problem that this story reveals. ![]() Apparently, the issue in Puerto Rico must all come down to not enough paper towels.Writing this story presented me with an unexpected challenge. Instead of being sympathetic to their losses, Trump said at a press conference on Tuesday that Hurricane Maria wasn't a "real" catastrophe like Hurricane Katrina in 2005, according to The Hill, saying: If you looked - every death is a horror, but if you look at a real catastrophe like Katrina, and you look at the tremendous hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people that died, and you look at what happened here with really a storm that was just totally overbearing, nobody has seen anything like this.įorget power, food, and access to water. Ready for some accolades for what he appeared to believe was the Trump administration's excellent response to Hurricane Maria. Yup, these tweets about Trump throwing paper towels to the crowd in Puerto Rico are full of justifiable incredulity, because really? That's the solution?ĭespite dozens of media reports that have depicted a dark and difficult struggle for the people of Puerto Rico post-Maria (CNBC reported a weakened and frustrating supply chain, people begging for food and water on the streets, and a horrifying smell of "rotting flesh" in the air), Trump landed on Tuesday beaming ear to ear. As Puerto Ricans struggle to bring some sense of normalcy back to their lives, it seems Trump had a fairly ridiculous response: Paper towels. During his visit, Trump met with local officials to discuss ongoing relief efforts, which many have found to be lacking on the federal level (notably including San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz). President Donald Trump was visiting the people of Puerto Rico on Tuesday, ostensibly to survey the damage Hurricane Maria had wreaked on the island last month, leaving at least 16 dead and millions without power. ![]()
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