In yet another rambling interview, this time with Geraldo Rivera, President Donald Trump kept up his Disparage Puerto Rico Tour, covering themes from the incompetence of the island’s local government (ok, he might have a point there) to his lack of any empathy towards the Hurricane María death count to his views of statehood and San Juan mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz. The rambling starts around the 12 minute mark of the “interview,” but it you can’t bear to listen, just catch the tweet threads below for ACTUAL QUOTES.
Here are some of the “highlights:”
"The 16 people was then lifted a couple of months later to 64, and that was the official number. And that was it. That's terrible. That's a loss of life. And I love Puerto Rican people. I love Puerto Rico," @realDonaldTrump says.
— Julio Ricardo Varela (@julito77) September 24, 2018
"They have incredible spirit. Ok, it was 64 people, & then all of a sudden, I read a report, many, many months later, long time later, that they did a report. 3,000 people died. I said, 'wait a minute, you went from 16 to 64. We did a great job & then you went from 64 to 3,000?"
— Julio Ricardo Varela (@julito77) September 24, 2018
Rivera: "Are you still contemplating allowing Puerto Rican bankruptcy?"
Trump: "They are taking a hit. They are taking a hit. But the power plant and the power, as I said, was absolutely a disaster for many years."— Julio Ricardo Varela (@julito77) September 24, 2018
Trump: "Now when the storms hit and the power's the same disaster, it was not even working it, other than the wires were torn, but the plant itself was not even that much worse, but it was so bad."
— Julio Ricardo Varela (@julito77) September 24, 2018
Trump: "… you know, a military hospital ship. It's the biggest in the world. It was incredible. I saw that ship. It was incredible. We did things that nobody could have done."
— Julio Ricardo Varela (@julito77) September 24, 2018
Rivera: “But what about defaulting on the bonds? I want to get this down. Will you let them default on these billions in bonds?”
Trump: “I don’t want to talk about that. That’s a financial situation. I don’t want to talk about it.”— Julio Ricardo Varela (@julito77) September 24, 2018
Trump: "With the mayor of San Juan as bad as she is, and as incompetent as she is, Puerto Rico shouldn't be talking about statehood until they get some people that really know what they're doing."
Rivera: "She's running for governor, I hear…"— Julio Ricardo Varela (@julito77) September 24, 2018
Trump: "She was so bad and so disrespectful to our military, to our first responders, and to our great FEMA people, who did a phenomenal job. The distribution of food was so horribly handled by the representatives on the island."
— Julio Ricardo Varela (@julito77) September 24, 2018
Trump: "No, no, because I love the people of #PuertoRico. And I did a great job. I did an extra special… I got things to Puerto Rico that nobody could have gotten. They had so much water, they didn't know what to do with it."
— Julio Ricardo Varela (@julito77) September 24, 2018
Trump: "So we had to send truck drivers on to the island. We had to send taxi drivers on to the island. We had to do things that nobody's ever done before. And instead of getting thank you, we got nothing but bad publicity."
— Julio Ricardo Varela (@julito77) September 24, 2018
Trump: “And I’ll tell you what. I got an A+ in Texas and an A+ in Florida. We did more work, and in a certain way, just as good, can’t do much better, but what happened is the local representatives, in particular, the mayor of San Juan, was incompetent.”
— Julio Ricardo Varela (@julito77) September 24, 2018
Meanwhile, Puerto Rico governor Ricardo Rosselló, the island’s top pro-statehood voice, issued the following statement about the Trump interview, making sure to not mention Yulín Cruz by name:
“Today President Donald Trump made an unfortunate statement regarding the unequal and colonial relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico.
“The President said he is not in favor of statehood for the people of Puerto Rico based on a personal feud with a local mayor. This is an insensitive, disrespectful comment to over 3 million Americans who live in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico.
“Equality for the U.S. citizens of Puerto Rico is the biggest civil rights issue in the United States. Americans in the island cannot vote for their President and do not have voting representation in Congress yet are subject to federal laws. This undemocratic relationship has gone on for over 100 years.
“Since World War I, Puerto Rican soldiers have fought hand in hand in all major military conflicts on behalf of our nation, the United States, yet our servicemen and women have no say in the government that sends them to war and cannot elect their Commander-in-Chief.
“How can the United States make the case for democracy at the United Nations this week, when they have under their flag the most populous colony in the world? I urge all political leaders in the nation to define their views towards our quest for equal treatment for the U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico.
“While a Presidential candidate, Trump said that the will of the Puerto Rican people in any status referendum should be considered as Congress follows through on any desired change in status for Puerto Rico, including statehood. Moreover, the GOP 2016’s political platform explicitly recognized Puerto Rico’s 2012 status referendum and supported statehood.
“Twice in the last 10 years, Puerto Ricans have supported, with their vote, equality through statehood. In democracies, the will of the people is not subject to the whims of one person.
“I am confident that in the months ahead that we will get the support of members of Congress and the White House to achieve full equality through statehood for Puerto Rico.”
By the way, this whole statehood thing? It’s complicated. But you knew that already, right?
