As Trump administration officials—and President Donald Trump himself—continue to speak glowingly about ongoing recovery efforts in Puerto Rico, Carmen Yulín Cruz, the mayor of San Juan, took to Twitter early Sunday to slam the U.S. government for painting a rosy picture that doesn't comport with the dire facts on the ground in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.
Under 12 percent of Puerto Rico's power has been restored, according to government data, and many still lack access to safe drinking water—a fact Cruz was quick to highlight.
"The American people want to help," Cruz wrote, "but the U.S. government does not want to help."
Increasingly painful to undestand the american people want to help and US Gov does not want to help. WE NEED WATER! @cnnbrk
— Carmen Yulín Cruz (@CarmenYulinCruz) October 8, 2017
Cruz then aimed a tweet directly at Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) director Brock Long, accusing him of neglecting to respond to hospital power outages.
Power collapses in San Juan hospital with 2 patients being transferred out. Have requested support from @FEMA_Brock NOTHING! @cnnbrk
— Carmen Yulín Cruz (@CarmenYulinCruz) October 8, 2017
What you do when devastation hits you and there is no help in the horizon. We will make it. pic.twitter.com/Powj7UDeFe
— Carmen Yulín Cruz (@CarmenYulinCruz) October 8, 2017
In an interview on ABC's "This Week" Sunday, Long refused to even acknowledge criticism of his agency's sluggish response to Hurricane Maria, saying that the Trump administration has "filtered out" the San Juan mayor.
Long went on to insist that—despite abundant evidence to the contrary—the Puerto Rico recovery is progressing thanks to the Trump administration's efforts.
During his trip to Puerto Rico last week, Trump complained that the devastation wrought by Hurricane Maria has "thrown our budget a little out of whack." He also said Puerto Rico's crisis is not a "real catastrophe like Katrina."
As Cruz and others desperately plead for help in the midst of Puerto Rico's humanitarian emergency, Trump is at his golf club in Virginia—the 70th day he has spent at a golf course during his presidency.
Meanwhile, 18 days into one of the worst humanitarian emergencies in U.S. history, the mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico is begging for help. https://t.co/wqfL4HvqBV
— Eric Holthaus (@EricHolthaus) October 8, 2017
That this blatant dereliction of duty in a time of crisis is barely making the news is an indictment of how far we've normalized the @potus.
— Eric Holthaus (@EricHolthaus) October 8, 2017
