Since August, the United States and its surrounding territories have been plagued with natural disasters such as Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Katia, Jose and Maria. These tragic storms have wreaked havoc on states in the southeastern United States, as well as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. There were many deaths in Texas, Louisiana and Florida, and some cities are still flooded weeks after the storms. The United States government has been under extreme pressure to provide financial aid and recovery assistance to these areas, and President Trump has visited the affected areas to reassure the people that their needs will be fulfilled. However, his speeches in Texas and Puerto Rico were strangely lacking in remorse and empathy.
Many people in Puerto Rico are still without power, and gas prices have remained extremely high. The power could potentially be out for another six months. President Trump visited Puerto Rico last month, and many of the remarks he made in some of his speeches there belittled the victims of the hurricane and downplayed the magnitude of the disaster. He compared the destruction in Puerto Rico to what happened in Hurricane Katrina, saying, “if you look at a real catastrophe like Katrina and you look at the tremendous hundreds and hundreds of people that died and what happened here with a storm that was just totally overbearing. No one has ever seen anything like that.” He goes on to say that Puerto Rico should be proud of its low death count, which was 16. This remark was callous and uncalled for, as the hurricanes demolished so much of the small island. Despite there being fewer deaths in Puerto Rico than in Louisiana or Texas, that should have nothing to do with how the storm is responded to and/or how much money the government should give to them. Other parts of his speech do nothing to redeem him, as he jumped from topic to topic rather abruptly, and often lamented how expensive the military and government aid has been to helping the island, saying,“I hate to tell you, Puerto Rico, but you are throwing our budget out of whack.” After his visit, he posted an abrasive tweet criticizing San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz after she requested more aid from the Trump administration, saying, “results of recovery efforts will speak much louder than complaints by San Juan Mayor. [we are] Doing everything we can to help great people of PR [Puerto Rico].” He accused Cruz of poor leadership and the people of Puerto Rico for not doing enough to help themselves.
President Trump has visited Texas as well to survey storm damage and help distribute supplies. He seemed awestruck by the size and destructiveness of the storm, calling it “historic” and “record breaking.” During his first speech, he praised local authorities and rescue teams for their efforts, but ultimately failed to acknowledge or show empathy for the storm victims. He also touted the size of the crowd that he was speaking to, and treated it as if it were one of his campaign rallies, saying that he admired and celebrated the “spirit of the people.” Many people were also quick to criticize the shoes that Melania Trump wore on that first visit to Texas, which were black stiletto heels. The shoes were not fit to experience a disaster zone, and the style choice shows the disconnect between the citizens and the administration.
An alarming amount of his comments in Puerto Rico were mainly focused on how much the ruination was costing the government, and he skirted around addressing most of the main problems. In Texas, his remarks about the spirit and size of the crowd that attended his speech was reminiscent of his behavior during his presidential campaign. Treating his speech like a campaign speech was completely inappropriate and unsympathetic, and the assembly of storm victims should not have been treated in this manner, as they had just lost so many of their possessions, homes and loved ones. Another deplorable way that President Trump has insulted Puerto Rican victims is in his tweets, which call for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to be pulled away from Puerto Rico in order to focus on rebuilding within the contiguous United States, in Texas and Florida. His tweets only furthered a belief that he is inherently racist, because he complained about the strain that is being put on the government to help people in Puerto Rico, a largely Hispanic island, while he did not complain about government recovery funding in Florida and Texas. The unprofessional and disrespectful way that President Trump has dealt with destruction caused by the recent hurricanes only emphasizes a popular opinion that he is not fit to be president.
