If you are near the coastline in North Carolina, South Carolina, or Virginia, keep in mind while Hurricane Florence is approaching that Donald Trump believes he did a bang-up job with Puerto Rico.
While meeting with the director of FEMA, Trump told reporters, “I think probably the hardest one we had by far was Puerto Rico because of the island nature, and I actually think it was one of the best jobs that’s ever been done with respect to what this is all about. He continued, saying that Puerto Rico’s power grid was in “very bad shape” and that the U.S. territory was in “bankruptcy” before Hurricanes Maria and Irma hit last year. “I think that Puerto Rico was an incredible, unsung success,” he said.
Keep in mind, Hurricane Maria led to the deaths of nearly 3,000 Americans in Puerto Rico which would make it the second-deadliest hurricane in American history. This, for a president who refuses to believe in facts, qualifies as an “unsung success.” What else remains unsung in the Trump administration is Climate Change.
Don’t worry too much about the government not being ready this time, even though Trump won’t admit it wasn’t ready last time. Sure, Trump was surprised to learn the governor of Puerto Rico was not the president of what he later learned was an island, but he’s much more up to speed this time as he told reporters that this hurricane is “very big and wet.”
I feel better.
We also just learned that FEMA only gave 75 people funeral assistance, approving aid for just three percent of the 2,431 requests the agency received. Trump has called the situation in Puerto Rico not a “real catastrophe like Hurricane Katrina,” probably because that happened during another administration.
Another tidbit to keep in mind as Flo storms toward the Carolinas and Virginia is that FEMA just had $10 million diverted from its budget to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. What does ICE need the funds for? The official request stated it was for “higher priority detention and removal requirements.” That means baby jails. Diverting a huge chunk of FEMA’s budget at the start of hurricane season is a move made by people with the lack of compassion and empathy it takes to rip immigrant families apart.
While George W. Bush will be forever linked to Iraq and Katrina, Trump will have hurricanes and baby jails. His Democratic successor will have the rebuilding everything Trump destroyed.
While evacuating to escape Hurricane Florence, you won’t be blamed if you’re tempted to keep evacuating until you’re out the country.
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