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Contrary to the allegations of a biased media, the people of Puerto Rico were very happy that President Donald Trump came to the island to survey the damage from Hurricane Maria, Geraldo Rivera said Friday on Fox & Friends.
“He has been getting the worst, most dishonest press about his visit to Puerto Rico,” Rivera said.
“It is staggering to me how unfair — how grotesquely unfair — the reporting has been,” he added.
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Rivera, whose family lives in Puerto Rico, saw Trump’s visit firsthand and said 90 to 95 percent of the people Trump met were enthusiastic about his visit.
He said the media distorts reality. For example, he noted that when Trump praised the island for its actions to ensure that the powerful Maria had a death toll of 16 as opposed to 1,800 from the less powerful Hurricane Katrina, he was attacked for seeming to downplay the loss of life on the island.
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Reports attacking Trump are “fake news,” Rivera said last wek, pointing out how New York Times columnist Paul Krugman falsely claimed on Twitter there was a cholera outbreak on Puerto Rico.
On Friday, Trump affirmed his support for the island and its people.
The wonderful people of Puerto Rico, with their unmatched spirit, know how bad things were before the H's. I will always be with them!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 13, 2017
“The wonderful people of Puerto Rico, with their unmatched spirit, know how bad things were before the H’s. I will always be with them!” Trump tweeted.
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…We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 12, 2017
On Thursday, Trump had tweeted that first responders would not be on the island forever, ruffling some feathers.
But White House Chief of Staff John Kelly said Thursday that Trump’s tweet reflects the proper disaster response.
“I think he said the U.S. military and FEMA can’t be there forever. Right?” he asked the reporter questioning him. “First responders. The minute you go anywhere as a first responder — and this would apply, certainly, to the military — you are trying very hard, working very hard to work yourself out of a job.”
Kelly said the initial response teams are supposed to have limited time in any crisis location so they can be sent to the next one when disaster strikes.
“There will be a period in which — we hope sooner rather than later — to where the U.S. military and FEMA, generally speaking, can withdraw because then the government and the people of Puerto Rico are recovering sufficiently to start the process of rebuilding,” he said.
“So this country, our country will stand with those American citizens in Puerto Rico until the job is done. But the tweet about FEMA and DOD — read: military — is exactly accurate. They’re not going to be there forever, and the whole point is to start to work yourself out of a job and then transition to the rebuilding process,” he said.
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