Trump demands "appreciation" for pathetic hurricane response with jarring propaganda video
In a weird, ego-boosting propaganda move that authoritarians like Vladimir Putin must have admired, Donald Trump recently posted a supercut video on Twitter of the Puerto Rico hurricane relief effort. He used the clip to congratulate himself for doing an amazing job, while simultaneously complaining not enough people were saying what an amazing job he […]

He used the clip to congratulate himself for doing an amazing job, while simultaneously complaining not enough people were saying what an amazing job he was doing — and blaming the “fake news media” for it.
Nobody could have done what I’ve done for #PuertoRico with so little appreciation. So much work! pic.twitter.com/k2jAkIpfjI
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 8, 2017
The self-congratulatory mini-movie, complete with thematic music, tied together two defining Trump traits: narcissism and incompetence.
Indeed, Trump and his team in recent days seem far more committed to projecting a public relations appearance of success in Puerto Rico, rather than actually overseeing relief for the 3 million American citizens there.
The death toll following the Category 4 storm, Hurricane Maria, stands at 36. More than half of the people on the island don’t have access to clean drinking water, and nearly 90 percent are still without power.
Incredibly, three weeks after the storm, the U.S. is still trying to figure out the basics, like how to get food and water to people on the island.
“Responding to the evolving crisis, U.S. military officials spelled out Sunday how they will alter the distribution of food, water and fuel to many of the island’s 78 municipalities,” the Miami Herald reports.
Last week, the global anti-poverty group Oxfam released a blistering assessment of the slow motion, Trump-led relief effort:
Oxfam has monitored the response in Puerto Rico closely, and we are outraged at the slow and inadequate response the US Government has mounted in Puerto Rico. Clean water, food, fuel, electricity, and health care are in desperately short supply and quickly dwindling, and we’re hearing excuses and criticism from the administration instead of a cohesive and compassionate response. The US has more than enough resources to mobilize an emergency response but has failed to do so in a swift and robust manner.
The organization went on to state that while it “rarely responds to humanitarian emergencies in the US and other wealthy countries,” it has deemed it necessary to get involved “as the situation in Puerto Rico worsens and the federal government’s response continues to falter.”
Meanwhile, Trump critics immediately punched back, belittling his ego-boosting video:
88% of the island is without power more than two weeks after the storm hit. Stop congratulating yourself and get back to work. https://t.co/D0SS9bD6Dp
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) October 9, 2017
Just 33 percent of Americans approve of how Trump is handling disaster relief in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, with 49 percent disapproving, according to an Associated Press poll released last week. Those marks are noticeably worse than how Americans graded Trump on his handling of recent hurricanes that hit Texas and Florida, where just 27 percent disapproved.
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