Democratic lawmakers blasted President Trump’s tweets early Saturday attacking the mayor of San Juan, Puerto, for “poor leadership” in the wake of Hurricane Maria recovery efforts.
Various lawmakers condemned Trump for targeting the mayor while spending the weekend at his golf club in Bedminster, N.J.
“Today our President will sit in his opulent golf resort attacking hurricane first responders,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) tweeted.
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Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) ripped the president’s response in a statement, calling the attacks “abhorrent,” “baseless” and “beneath the dignity of the office of the Presidency.”
“Although unsurprising and quite predictable, it is pathetic that the President has decided to attack – with the not so subtle veil of racism and sexism – those desperately begging for his help in their hour of need,” he said.
Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) said Trump was “attacking disaster victims who’ve lost their homes from the comfort of his private golf resort.”
Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) issued a series of scathing tweets noting Americans suffering on the U.S. island territory while referencing the president’s golf course.
Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) tweeted what she said could be used as an alternative response to the mayor.
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.) attacked Trump’s ego and what she called his cold heart.
Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) listed Trump’s attack on Cruz as what could be the “worst” attack the president has issued.
Democrats, who have already been critical of the administration’s response in Puerto Rico, were quick to condemn Trump’s attacks on San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz on Saturday, in which he went after her “poor leadership.”
Trump’s attack appeared to be in response to comments from Cruz made on Friday, in which she condemned the federal government’s response to recovery efforts on the island, and issued an emotional plea for help.
“I will do what I never thought I was going to do. I am begging, begging anyone who can hear us to save us from dying. If anybody out there is listening to us, we are dying, and you are killing us with the inefficiency,” Cruz said.
The administration has scrambled to contain the crisis in Puerto Rico as residents struggle to recover from the devastating effects of Hurricane Maria, which brought heavy winds and rain and left virtually the entire island without power.
Local officials have pushed for aid such as food, water and medicine to be more quickly administered to those in need, while Trump has defended the federal response in recent days.
Trump was slated to hold a series of phone calls Saturday from his golf club in New Jersey to discuss relief efforts after Hurricane Maria, which ravaged the island.
The president was set to talk with the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Brock Long, Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, Puerto Rico resident commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón and the governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Kenneth Mapp, according to the White House.
Updated: 11:53 a.m.