President Joe Biden promised to provide federal support to Puerto Rico as long as he is in office, delivering a message steeped in political undertones as the island reels from the devastation of Hurricane Fiona.
Biden on Monday traveled to Puerto Rico’s hardest-hit area to assess storm damage from the deadly hurricane and pitch the administration’s relief efforts. But as he left the White House, the president began to draw a contrast with his former and potential future Republican opponent and later touted his own close ties to the island's political diaspora.
“We are not leaving here as long as I’m president, until everything — I mean this sincerely — until every single thing that we can do is done,” he said.As he left the White House earlier in the day, the president criticized the Trump administration’s response to Hurricane Maria in 2017, telling reporters that the island’s residents “haven’t been taken very good care of.”
And he said knew the diaspora well from his years representing Delaware in Congress. “I was sort of raised in the Puerto Rican community at home, politically,” Biden said during several minutes of remarks. Biden has lately upped his criticism of Trump as members of his party prepare to face off against their GOP counterparts.
Trump had a tense relationship with some of Puerto Rico’s leaders, stemming from his administration's response to Maria and reports of withholding federal aid. His visit to San Juan after the hurricane in 2017 is often remembered for Trump tossing paper towels into a crowd of cheering hurricane survivors.
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