This is absolute “must see TV”: New York Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez gives Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson a message to deliver to Donald Trump about his threat to pull FEMA out of Puerto Rico, even as its citizens are struggling for their very survival.
Be sure to note the smug smile on Carson’s face at the 0.33 mark. Jackass.
Complete transcript:
To kick fellow citizens when they are down is shameful. I am the only member who is a Puerto Rican American citizen who sits in this committee. So since I don’t have President Trump in front of me, I just would like for you to let him know how shameful all the tweets that he put out this morning, how offended and insulted I am as an American citizen. And I would like to suggest that the president get some history lessons regarding the Puerto Rican relationship with the United States. In 1898, American troops invaded Puerto Rico. American troops took over Puerto Rico. So Puerto Ricans didn’t invite the United States armed forces. It was invaded. So with that invasion comes responsibility. In 1917, American citizenship was imposed on Puerto Ricans. Timely, so they could join the armed forces and fight in World War I. So, those tweets are unpresidential. The most basic fundamental responsibility of the president of the United States, the president of the most powerful country in the world, is to show up and make and provide the assistance and the relief that American citizens need. They don’t need this type of insult. And by the way, why is it that he doesn’t put the same tweets when it comes to Texas or Florida?