Activist Curt Schilling, a former baseball star, is in Puerto Rico, and confirmed that President Trump sent aid to the hurricane-ravaged island in record time. But the incompetence on the ground in disbursing the massive federal aid has been atrocious.
There is widespread negative media coverage slamming Trump for not responding more quickly to relief efforts. But those reports are false.
“I have talked to politicians in both states (Texas and Florida) and the governor of Puerto Rico,” Schilling told Fox News (see video). “All have said … that the president did everything in a pace they’ve never seen before, as far as him releasing money and releasing assets. But the execution on the ground has been horrifying.”
Governor of Puerto Rico Praised Trump
Richard Rossello, the governor of Puerto Rico, praised President Trump for his rapid response to the island’s aid requests.
“The president and the administration, every time we’ve asked them to execute, they’ve executed quickly,” Rossello told Fox Business. “The administration has responded to our petitions. FEMA and [FEMA director] Brock Long have been on the phone virtually all the time with me, checking out how things are going.”
Trump is being blamed for the gross mishandling of the mountain of food, water and other vital supplies that have been sent to Puerto Rico, which was destroyed by Hurricane Maria.
But Senator Marco Rubio (and Trump) have confirmed that the problem is ON THE GROUND IN PUERTO RICO.
There are over 10,000 containers packed with food, water and other supplies sitting idly in San Juan Port because Puerto Rico does not have enough truck drivers to transport the goods across the island. How the hell is that Trump’s fault?
Some of criticism of #PuertoRicoRelief missing main problem. @FEMA has sent lots of aid problem is distribution once it gets to #PuertoRico
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) September 29, 2017
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/914089003745468417
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/914090947180470272
Puerto Rico Is Financially Irresponsible and Incompetent
Adding to the chaos is that the infrastructure on the island has been falling apart for decades. The third-rate infrastructure is part of the reason why Puerto Rico was devastated far worse than Texas or Florida, which were also recently hit by hurricanes.
In June 2017, Puerto Rico voted to become the 51st state of the United States of America, partly because it needs massive federal assistance due to horrible mismanagement over the decades. It is currently a U.S. territory.
Puerto Rico has a debt load of $70 billion despite its small population of 3.4 million. Puerto Rico has the highest debt per person of any U.S. state and its unemployment rate is twice as high as the U.S. average.
In May 2017, PR filed for the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. It’s unclear where all the money went, since it should have been used to rebuild infrastructure and other necessities. Anyway, now Puerto Rico has been ravaged by Hurricane Maria, and it needs federal help.
Curt Schilling, who is on the ground in Puerto Rico, said he has never witnessed such utter devastation. He said government bureaucrats are pointing fingers because they’re afraid to get blamed for how horribly things have been managed.
“Everybody is afraid somebody will get blamed,” Schilling said. “And that is causing these hang-ups.”
Again, none of this has to do with President Trump, who did his part in expeditiously sending federal aid. If people on the ground are incompetent, or the island’s infrastructure is so damaged that nobody can drive on the roads, how the hell is that Trump’s fault?
The Mayor of San Juan is a political puppet
Complaining there's no aid when the port is crammed with containers
Their need is truck Drivers pic.twitter.com/a5p32uhkB1— Corryn💙 (@Corrynmb) September 30, 2017
Friend who was NYPD and is now a pilot flying relief supplies into and currently in #PuertoRico just posted this. pic.twitter.com/WxfIV0MdAN
— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) September 29, 2017
Meanwhile, President Trump has been praised for his responses to the hurricanes in Florida and Texas. No other U.S. president has dealt with such a rapid succession of natural disasters in such a condensed period of time. But don’t expect the anti-Trump mainstream media to report that.
Many on Twitter had the same question: How did Puerto Rico squander all that money the federal government gave it??
We’ve been pumping in billions to PR they should have invested in infrastructure not pay each other in kickbacks. Disgusting.
— Donald J. Trump (@RealRastaDon) September 30, 2017
https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/914149457188532224
They wasted the money, want to default, and now a hurricane wiped them out… PR is in path of hurricanes! But it is Trump’s fault?
— Robert Crowe (@RCsPicks) September 30, 2017
https://twitter.com/Pink_About_it/status/914116170596454400
It’s the same with Leftists everywhere. Neglect basic infrastructure, then claim “We’re victims!” “Bail us out!” when things falls apart?
— Mensans for USA (@Mensans4USA) September 30, 2017
Journalist and attorney Geraldo Rivera, who’s Puerto Rican, also defended President Trump:
On the ground I see the suffering-but feel deeply that attacking @realDonaldTrump for the ravages of nature &neglect is politicizing tragedy
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) September 30, 2017
#SanJuanMayor says residents are "dying," & somehow @realDonaldTrump is to blame. I'm here. Who is dying? Why? Where? Let me help save them.
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) September 30, 2017
Been chasing hurricanes volcanoes earthquakes for 1/2 century & can say theres never been natural disaster that negatively impacted so many
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) September 30, 2017
Don't blame @realDonaldTrump Blame 2 historic storms back to back & blame #PREPA the bankrupt criminally incompetent ElectricPowerAuthority
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) September 29, 2017
https://twitter.com/Fuctupmind/status/914184912563032065
It is a major stroke of luck that the T-Shirt graphics shop was the one business not hit by the hurricane
— Just Ken (@kennethralls1) September 30, 2017
https://twitter.com/StefanMolyneux/status/914194944881037313
77 of 78 mayors in 🇵🇷 agree Maria response has been great.
One creating her own false narrative, straight out of the Hillary playbook. pic.twitter.com/lBsDGRAHs3— RuthieRedSox (@RuthieRedSox) October 1, 2017
Neighboring mayor rips San Juan mayor, praises Trump: Cruz is not doing her job
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Samantha Chang is a senior staff writer for BizPac Review. She is a financial editor and lawyer based in New York City.
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