Over the last two weeks, Puerto Rico has struggled to bounce back after the destruction left by Hurricane Maria. As Donald Trump continues to insult officials on the island, the Mayor of San Juan was forced to set the record straight during an interview on Fox News.

Fox News on Puerto Rico

Last month, three major hurricanes ripped through various parts of the United States. First it was Hurricane Harvey in Texas where the city of Houston was damaged worst of all. Just over a week later and Hurricane Irma moved through Cuba and took its toll on Florida, where the city of Miami and other parts of the south where hit with 130 mph winds.

Despite the damage that took place during those storms, it was Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico that might have caused the most devastation. The entire island lost power, as food and water quickly became scarce. Due to the major airport being taken out, residents weren't able to contact love ones, with dozens being reported dead and thousands being displaced. The reaction from Donald Trump came slow and was lackluster, as the majority of the mainstream media piled on the president. In response, Trump became defensive and even took a shot at the mayor of San Juan by questioning her leadership. As seen during a October 1 interview on Fox News, San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz clashed with Geraldo Rivera.

(The conversation over people dying in Puerto Rico starts at 3:20 in the above video.)

Joining Fox News contributor and part-time host Geraldo Rivera for an interview on Sunday morning, Carmen Yulín Cruz was forced to get real over questionable comments about the current state of Puerto Rico following the storm. "We have had our hospital try to go back to speed but then the electricity goes off and we have to do all the bacteria testing, which takes three to four days," Cruz pointed out.

At this time, Geraldo Rivera then pushed back at the notion that people were dying due to the impact of the hurricane. "But are people dying?" Rivera asked, while cutting Cruz off. "I’ve been traveling around, I don’t see people dying," Rivera added, before explaining that he spoke to several doctors, stating, "they say they saw 53 patients and they had a person who was septic, but nobody dying."

Cruz responds

Responding to Geraldo Rivera, Carmen Yulín Cruz said "Dying is a continuum." "If you don’t get fed for seven, eight days and you’re a child, you are dying," Cruz explained, before also noting, "If you have 11 people, like we took out of a nursing home, severely dehydrated, you are dying."

Next up

As many in Puerto Rico fight to save their lives, it appears that Donald Trump and some in the conservative media are not going to make things any easier.

Trump's tweets over the last 24 hours have come under fire for criticizing Carmen Yulín Cruz for "complaining" about the White House's response, while also trashing many others on the island who "want everything to be done for them."
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED