Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Trump Aide Repeatedly Referred to Puerto Rico as 'That Country' in an Interview, and Do You Want to Tell Him or Should I?

Trump Aide Repeatedly Referred to Puerto Rico as 'That Country' in an Interview, and Do You Want to Tell Him or Should I?
MSNBC/Twitter

Excuse me?

Hogan Gidley doesn't know a basic tenet of United States geography.

The White House Deputy Press Secretary in an interview with MSNBC referred to Puerto Rico as "that country" twice even though it's been a U.S. territory for more than two centuries.


“With all they’ve done in that country, they’ve had a systematic mismanagement of the goods and services we’ve sent to them,” Gidley said in comments regarding the national response to Hurricane Maria in 2017. “You’ve seen food just rotting in the ports. Their governor has done a horrible job. He’s trying to make political hay in a political year, and he’s trying to find someone to take the blame off of his for not having a grid and not having a good system in that country at all.”

Gidley was swiftly called out by MSNBC's Hallie Jackson:

"The president says Puerto Ricans are taking from the U.S.A. Puerto Rico is part of the United States. People who live in Puerto Rico live in the United States. You’re rolling your eyes and I don’t know why you’re rolling your eyes.”

Gidley later attributed his misstatements to “a slip of the tongue," but for many, his statements are symbolic of the Trump administration's disregard for its own people.

Gidley's appearance comes after President Donald Trump posted several factually inaccurate tweets about the amount of federal government aid that Puerto Rico has received.

The president claimed that Puerto Rican politicians are “incompetent or corrupt” and claimed that Puerto Rico has been "already been scheduled to receive more hurricane relief funding than any 'place' in history.

The president further claimed that the island territory had received "91 Billion Dollars for the hurricane, more money than has ever been gotten for a hurricane before" and said that Puerto Ricans "only take from the USA."

In fact, a Washington Postreport revealed that $11 billion has been sent to the island so far, far less than the $120 billion already spent in response to 2005's Hurricane Katrina. The $91 billion sum Trump cites is an estimate of Puerto Rico’s recovery over the next few decades.

Moreover, a Government Accountability Office report issued last September found no evidence of the fraud or misappropriation of resources that Trump or Gidley suggests took place. The agency actually slammed FEMA, which Trump has often praised.

“FEMA did not have enough bilingual employees to communicate with local residents or translate documents,” the GAO wrote, which “resulted in further delays while staff were reshuffled from other disasters to Puerto Rico.”

A George Washington University study published in August 2018 revised the island’s official death toll to 2,975 people, many of whom died due to lack of aid, electricity, water, and access to medical care. The Trump administration shuffled its feet in response to the disaster and was savaged for offering aid remarkably quickly to the victims of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma by comparison.

More from People/donald-trump

Jasmine Crockett Calls Out Trump's Hypocrisy By Pointing Out How Melania Got Her Visa
Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for SiriusXM; Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

Jasmine Crockett Calls Out Trump's Hypocrisy By Pointing Out How Melania Got Her Visa

Texas Democratic Representative Jasmine Crockett pointed out President Donald Trump's hypocrisy on immigration considering how First Lady Melania Trump's pathway to citizenship was possible because she received an "Einstein visa," which is usually reserved for an individual with "some sort of significant achievement."

Speaking during a House Judiciary Committee hearing titled “Restoring Integrity and Security to the Visa Process,” Crockett noted that “the idea that Trump and my Republican colleagues want to restore integrity and security in the visa process is actually a joke," and harshly criticized the Trump administration's immigration crackdown and visa restrictions.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots of Jennifer Griffin and Pete Hegseth
The Hill

Fox Host Comes To Reporter's Defense After Pete Hegseth Berates Her At Pentagon Briefing

Fox News' chief political analyst Brit Hume came to the defense of Fox national security reporter Jennifer Griffin after their former colleague, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, criticized Griffin as the reporter "who misrepresents the most intentionally what the president says” in a Pentagon news conference.

Hegseth, a former Fox News anchor, had criticized media outlets—including his former network—for what he described as unpatriotic reporting. Hegseth took particular aim at early intelligence assessments suggesting that President Donald Trump's bombing of Iran may not have significantly crippled Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

Keep ReadingShow less

Teachers Share The Questions Students Asked In Class That Broke Their Hearts

Being a teacher is a calling.

It is not for the meek or weak of heart.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Emily Compagno
Fox News

Fox Host Slams Dem For Dropping An F-Bomb After Praising Trump For The Same Thing Just Minutes Earlier

Fox News host Emily Compagno was criticized after she praised Donald Trump's use of the "f-bomb" earlier this week before condemning Texas Democratic Representative Jasmine Crockett's use of the same word—on the same episode of her show, no less.

Trump made headlines this week after admonishing Israel and Iran for violating a ceasefire agreement he'd announced on Truth Social. Although he claimed the ceasefire had been "agreed upon," Iran fired at least six missile barrages at Israel after it was supposed to take effect.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ken Jennings; Emily Croke
@Jeopardy/Instagram

Champ's Wild Final Jeopardy Connection

In a dramatic conclusion on last Monday’s Jeopardy!, a contestant revealed a surprising relationship to the final clue's answer. Hailing from Denver, Emily Croke made it to the final write-in portion of the game show with $12,200 in earnings.

In the category of “Collections,” host Ken Jennings read the clue:

Keep ReadingShow less