Hurricanes have been plaguing the Gulf of Mexico these last couple of months. Many homes were destroyed and some lives have been lost to these storms. No area, however, has been as devastated as Puerto Rico by Hurricane Maria.
The small island territory was nearly destroyed entirely by the hurricane, resulting in almost every building on the island collapsing and a total lack of power for an estimated six months. Citizens of Puerto Rico have turned to the United States for aid, and President Donald Trump has criticized them for it.
While Trump has been trying to get football players to stand for the national anthem, people are dying in Puerto Rico. The island is destroyed, and so many of the people’s lives have been decimated by this massive storm. So of course, they would ask the nation with billions of dollars at their disposal for help, a nation that Puerto Rico is still a part of in many ways.
San Juan Mayor Yulin Cruz is begging for federal aid and has worked tirelessly to help her people survive. In response, Trump took it as an attack on his character and called this woman a poor leader, a woman who has been waist-deep in water trying to personally help the people of Puerto Rico.
President Trump has done a remarkably poor job at handling this situation. The entire power grid on the island is down, and Trump holds a press conference about a lack of respect for the flag. The people of Puerto Rico are begging for aid, but Trump just lashes out at them instead. Trump claims relief efforts are going fantastically well, and yet people are still hungry, thirsty and homeless all across the island.
Hurricane Maria may have caused all this devastation on the island, but it may be Trump’s arrogance that causes the most harm. Puerto Rico is not a state like Texas or Florida, but it deserves to be a treated as a part of the United States. Right now, it is this part of this U.S. that needs addressing, not the NFL, not the Mueller investigation, but the citizens of Puerto Rico.
Donations can be made to a organization the First Lady of Puerto Rico began herself at http://unidosporpuertorico.com/en/
