Analysis: The White House’s seemingly deliberate effort to otherize Puerto Rico
President Trump tosses paper towels into a crowd in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, on Oct. 3, 2017. By Aaron Blake Aaron Blake Senior political reporter, writing for The Fix Email Bio Follow April 2 at 2:00 PM It’s tempting to view President Trump’s many grievance-filled tweets as angry, indiscriminate lashing out at political opponents. It’s unhinged! It’s unpresidential! They’re “rage tweets!” Etc.
In two Trump tweets about Puerto Rico and a cable news appearance from a top White House spokesman later that morning, both Trump and the spokesman talked about Puerto Rico as if it weren’t part of the United States. And they did so in a way that couldn’t help but make you think this might be deliberate.
— Donald J. Trump April 2, 2019 ....The best thing that ever happened to Puerto Rico is President Donald J. Trump. So many wonderful people, but with such bad Island leadership and with so much money wasted. Cannot continue to hurt our Farmers and States with these massive payments, and so little appreciation!
The combination of those three things at the very least seems to betray Trump’s attitude that Puerto Rico is a lesser part of the United States.
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