San Juan mayor wears ‘nasty’ shirt during TV interview

San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz wore a T-shirt displaying the word “nasty” during a television interview Wednesday, after President Trump repeatedly used the term to describe her.

Cruz said the shirt was meant to reference Trump’s remarks as she discussed it during an interview with Jorge Ramos on Univision’s “Al Punto.”

“What is truly nasty is that anyone would turn their back on the Puerto Rican people,” Cruz said during the interview, which was conducted in Spanish.

{mosads}Trump and Cruz have been in a high-profile feud since the weekend, when Cruz criticized the administration’s response to Hurricane Maria’s devastation in Puerto Rico, and Trump responded by questioning her own leadership.

Trump also said Cruz had been put up to criticizing him by Democrats.

“The Mayor of San Juan, who was very complimentary only a few days ago, has now been told by the Democrats that you must be nasty to Trump,” Trump tweeted Saturday.

Trump also used the term in a Fox News interview that aired Tuesday night, saying the mayor was “very nice at the very beginning” but said “she went a little bit on the nasty side and I said I guess she’s running for office, and it turns out I’m right.”

On Tuesday during Trump’s visit to Puerto Rico, the two shook hands at the airport but the president did not call on Cruz for remarks as he met federal and local officials for televised remarks.

Cruz hasn’t let up on her criticism of the president, though she has praised White House staff for their handling of the crisis repeatedly.

Cruz had praised White House staffers in a pair of tweets after Trump’s trip to Puerto Rico Tuesday.

“They REALLY understood the disconnect between how things are supposed to happen and how they really happen,” she tweeted. “Hopefully the newly open channels of communication with WH staff will put in motion what is needed to accomplish our goal: save lives.” 

Trump’s use of the word “nasty” harkens back to the 2016 campaign, when he called Democratic rival Hillary Clinton a “nasty woman” during a presidential debate.

Supporters of Clinton embraced the term, with many people marching in the “women’s march” the day after the inauguration identifying themselves as “nasty.”

Cruz has been using most of her TV appearances to promote messages amid relief efforts. She wore a shirt that read “help us, we are dying” during a CNN appearance last Friday.

—Rafael Bernal contributed