Trump defends throwing paper towels to Puerto Ricans

President Trump defended tossing paper towels into a crowd at a church in Puerto Rico last week.

Trump said in an interview with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) Saturday that media coverage of his trip to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria was unfair, using the incident during which he tossed the paper towels as an example.

{mosads}“They had these beautiful, soft towels, very good towels. And I came in and there was a crowd of a lot of people, and they were screaming and they were loving everything,” Trump said. “I was having fun, they were having fun.”

“They said, ‘throw ‘em to me! Throw ‘em to me Mr. President!’ ” Trump said, before pantomiming shooting a basketball in the same way he tossed the paper towels.

“So the next day they said, ‘oh it was so disrespectful to the people.’ It was just a made-up thing. And also when I walked in, the cheering was incredible.”

“You were a rock star,” Huckabee replied.

Trump was filmed tossing the paper towels at one of his stops on his tour of Puerto Rico Tuesday, where he helped distribute supplies to victims of Hurricane Maria.

He also met with local officials for a briefing on recovery efforts after the storm, where he noticeably left San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, who had criticized the Trump administration’s response to the storm, out of his praise for local leaders. 

Trump also attacked the media coverage of his administration’s response to the storm, telling Puerto Ricans to “not believe the fake news.”