US

Maxine Goes After Ben Carson For Trump’s Latest Puerto Rico Tweets [VIDEO]

REUTERS/Carlos Barria

Daily Caller News Foundation logo
Amber Randall Civil Rights Reporter
Font Size:

Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters of California went after Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson for comments President Donald Trump made Thursday about the Puerto Rico crisis.

Waters repeatedly asked Carson during a committee hearing whether he agreed with Trump’s statements in a series of early morning Thursday tweets that government officials cannot remain in Puerto Rico forever.

“This morning, Trump threatened to abandon Puerto Rico recovery efforts,” Waters said. “President Trump served notice Thursday that he may pull back federal relief workers, effectively threatening to abandon the U.S territory amidst a staggering humanitarian crisis in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.”

“Do you agree with the president?” Waters asked.

WATCH:

 

“Puerto Rico is a very important territory,” Carson said. “And the people have greatly contributed to the culture of America.” Waters interrupted him, asking him to say whether he agreed that Puerto Rico should be abandoned.

“First of all, as I was saying, Puerto Rico is very important,” Carson said.

“I have no intention of abandoning Puerto Rico,” he added. “They are a very important part of who we are.”

Waters pressed him to answer whether it was okay to “shame” Puerto Rico for the disaster.

I don’t think it is beneficial to go around shaming people in general,” he said.

Trump tweeted earlier that the infrastructure on the island and the debt crisis only served to exacerbate the issues on the island in the aftermath of the hurricane.

Follow Amber on Twitter

Send tips to amber@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.