If only disaster relief was as easy as tossing paper towels at people in need, the crisis in Puerto Rico would have been resolved the moment Trump tossed the first roll. It has been a daunting month since Hurricane Maria left Puerto Rico in shambles, and it doesn’t look like it’s getting any better. Millions of residents are still in need of clean water, only 22 percent of residents have electricity and aid isn’t reaching the island’s rural municipalities, which were hardest hit by the storm.
It comes as no surprise, then, that the Trump administration has received major backlash from critics for its failure to assist the people of Puerto Rico in the same way the administration has helped Houston and Florida after major hurricanes hit. But week after week, rather than try to prove his critics wrong through action, the president continues to dismiss the crisis, claiming it’s not a “real catastrophe,” shifting the blame on the island’s failed infrastructure, telling the people of Puerto Rico—most of who have lost everything—that federal aid will not stay in the island “forever”—an precedented willingness to abandon U.S. citizens.
But through all of this, Trump remains of the idea that out of a score of 1 to 10, his administration deserves a ten. Why? Because “[the White House] has provided so much so fast.” But just like the people of Puerto Rico, we are left wondering what exactly he’s done to merit that score.
