Carmen Yulín Cruz rips Trump for ‘throwing paper towels’ at Puerto Ricans after deadly hurricane

Carmen Yulín Cruz, the Trump-bashing mayor of San Juan, ripped the U.S. president Sunday for ‘throwing paper towels’ at Puerto Ricans and his claim that ‘big water, ocean water’ prevented his administration from doling out relief faster. 

She said in Pittsburgh, at a rally in support of Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, that ‘two devastating hurricanes’ tore the territory apart and ‘rather than finding words of comfort,’ the sitting president ‘neglected all of us.’  

‘He made sure that the people that needed help didn’t get the help,’ she said. ‘You can kill people with a gun or you can kill people with neglect.’

Carmen Yulín Cruz, the Trump-bashing mayor of San Juan was in Pittsburgh on Sunday at a rally in support of Bernie Sanders ‘ presidential campaign. She’s pictured with Sanders before the event alongside fellow campaign co-chair Nina Turner

She ripped the U.S. president Sunday for 'throwing paper towels' at Puerto Ricans during an Oct. 2017 visit to San Juan

She ripped the U.S. president Sunday for ‘throwing paper towels’ at Puerto Ricans during an Oct. 2017 visit to San Juan

U.S. President Donald Trump tosses rolls of paper towels to people at a hurricane relief distribution center at Calvary Chapel in San Juan, Puerto Rico

U.S. President Donald Trump tosses rolls of paper towels to people at a hurricane relief distribution center at Calvary Chapel in San Juan, Puerto Rico

Cruz has been one of his most vocal political opponents ever since the 2017 incident

Cruz has been one of his most vocal political opponents ever since the 2017 incident

She told attendees of the Sanders rally on Sunday, 'The world is watching. The world saw that he went down to Puerto Rico and threw paper towels at us'

She told attendees of the Sanders rally on Sunday, ‘The world is watching. The world saw that he went down to Puerto Rico and threw paper towels at us’

She said that 3,000 Puerto Ricans died as a result of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, ‘because President Trump did not have it in him to get the job done.’

Cruz ridiculed Trump for his claim that the vast expanse of ocean between the continental U.S. and the island hampered relief efforts.

‘He actually said, “It’s an island surrounded by water, lots and lots of water ocean water,” ‘ she said. ‘It may be because he’s racist, it may be because he doesn’t have a clue.” ‘

Donald Trump said in a Sept. 2017 speech that ‘the response and recovery effort probably has never been seen for something like this’ and offered his condolence’s to the U.S. territory’s people.

‘This is an island surrounded by water, big water, ocean water,’ he noted.

Days later, he visited he island to see the wreckage for himself and hear from local leaders like Cruz. He stopped at an aid distribution center while he was there, and he was filmed throwing rolls of paper towels at smiling Puerto Ricans.

Cruz has been one of his most vocal political opponents ever since. 

She said Sunday that she told him during the visit, ‘ “We are dying here, and you are killing us with your incompetence, your bureaucracy and your inefficiency.’   

‘This man turned his back on us, but the people of the United States, the unions of the United States, fed us, gave us water and let us know that we were not alone,’ she said in Pittsburgh. 

She told attendees of the Sanders rally, ‘The world is watching. The world saw that he went down to Puerto Rico and threw paper towels at us.

‘His idea of helping was throwing paper towels. His idea of not getting the job done was blaming those who are suffering,’ she stated.

Cruz went to college in Pittsburgh. She attended Carnegie Mellon in the Pennsylvania city

Cruz went to college in Pittsburgh. She attended Carnegie Mellon in the Pennsylvania city

Supporters wave signs as Presidential hopeful, Sen. Bernie Sanders addresses a crowd during the campaign rally in Pittsburgh on Sunday evening

Supporters wave signs as Presidential hopeful, Sen. Bernie Sanders addresses a crowd during the campaign rally in Pittsburgh on Sunday evening

Yulin Cruz was referring to Trump’s insistence a year after the hurricane that his administration ‘got A Pluses’ for its hurricane work everywhere else.

He said it did an ‘unappreciated great job in Puerto Rico, even though an inaccessible island with very poor electricity and a totally incompetent Mayor of San Juan),’ in a Sept. 2018 tweet.

She had attacked the Republican president in a tweet the day before. ‘Pres Trump thinks loosing 3,000 lives is a success. Can you imagine what he thinks failure looks like?’ she said. 

Cruz is a Carnegie Mellon grad. She’s a co-chair of Sanders’ 2020 campaign. 

The senator acknowledged her feud with Trump, who he’s been trashing as a ‘pathological liar’ on the campaign trail, at the beginning of his rally remarks.

‘There is a reason why Mayor Cruz is Trump’s “least favorite mayor,” ‘ he said, ‘and that’s because she is a woman of integrity and courage and she is standing up for her people, and not afraid to take on Trump’s racism.’ 

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