A White House spokesperson tried to tell lies about the relief effort in Puerto Rico and referred to the island territory as a “country” on MSNBC Tuesday morning, only to be slapped down by host Hallie Jackson.
Deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley began by asserting that Puerto Rico had received more disaster relief — $91 billion — than any state or territory in American history, but Jackson was ready for that, telling him:
“That’s not true. Louisiana got more after that hurricane, that’s not a true fact.”
But Gidley only doubled down on his lie, trying to accuse officials in Puerto Rico of having wasted the aid they received from the government while also referring to the island as a foreign country:
“They have not come to $91 billion with all we’ve done in that country. They have had systematic mismanagement of the goods and services we sent to them. You’ve seen food rotting in the ports and their governor has done a horrible job. He is trying to find someone to take the blame off of him for not having a good grid and not having a good system in that country.”
Again, Jackson shut down Gidley:
“These are things that are not true. Just from a factual basis, because Hurricane Katrina, the recovery effort cost more than what is happening in Puerto Rico. Let’s lay the facts out here.”
Next, Jackson tried to get Gidley to clarify whether or not the administration saw Puerto Ricans as Americans, but the spokesman began talking about a farm bill he claimed would benefit Puerto Rico.
Finally, Jackson expertly countered Gidley by reminding him that Trump has said Puerto Rico is a drain on the U.S. budget:
“The president said Puerto Ricans are taking from the U.S.A. Puerto Rico is part of the United States, people who live in Puerto Rico are U.S. citizens. You’re rolling your eyes, and I don’t know why you’re rolling your eyes.”
Does anyone in the Trump administration have the slightest clue about anything? It certainly doesn’t look like they do. Instead, they all seem to be doing their best imitation of mindless know-nothings.
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