'Unhinged, Insensitive, and Lying': Trump Uses Bar Graph to Spread Falsehood About Puerto Rico Hurri

[G_j]

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/05/09/unhinged-insensitive-and-lying-trump-uses-bar-graph-spread-falsehood-about-puerto?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=facebook

"His racism knows no boundaries," said San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz

byJake Johnson, staff writer

President Donald Trump spent the opening minutes of a campaign rally in Panama City Beach, Florida on Wednesday attacking hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico for not sufficiently appreciating his administration's relief efforts—which critics have decried as grossly inadequate—and attempting to use a bar graph to bolster his repeatedly debunked claim that the island has received a record amount of storm aid.

"I brought a chart. Would you like to see a chart?" Trump said, pulling a piece of paper from his jacket pocket to cheers from the audience.

"That's Puerto Rico and they don't like me," said the president, pointing to a section of the bar graph purporting to show that Puerto Rico has received $91 billion in hurricane relief funding.

As The Associated Press reported, Trump's "number is wrong, as is his assertion that the U.S. territory has set some record for federal disaster aid. Congress has so far distributed only about $11 billion for Puerto Rico, not $91 billion."

As Common Dreams reported in March, over a million U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico have faced large cuts to food stamps and other services in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria as a relief package—which also includes disaster aid to Florida and other states—remains stalled in Congress due to opposition from Republicans and the Trump administration.

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[Kid Berwyn]

1. Criminal dereliction of duty by the president of the United States.

His inaction cost thousands their lives.