Puerto Rico’s Gov. Ricardo Rossello slammed President Trump Monday for his “insensitive” and “disrespectful” remarks about barring the U.S. territory from becoming a state.
“The president said he is not in favor of statehood for the people of Puerto Rico based on a personal feud with a local mayor. This is an insensitive, disrespectful comment to over 3 million Americans who live in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico,” Rossello said in a statement issued Monday afternoon.
“Equality for the U.S. citizens of Puerto Rico is the biggest civil rights issue in the United States,” he added. “Americans in the island cannot vote for their President and do not have voting representation in Congress yet are subject to federal laws. This undemocratic relationship has gone on for over 100 years.”
On Monday, Trump said he would be an “absolute no” on the issue of statehood for Puerto Rico despite having indicated on the campaign trail that Puerto Rico’s view of statehood should be considered in Congress. But after San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz criticized how the Trump administration handled the hurricanes that struck Puerto Rico a year ago last week, Trump said there’s no room to talk about it.
[Also read: Trump says his administration did a ‘fantastic job’ in Puerto Rico after death toll nears 3,000]
“With the mayor of San Juan as bad as she is and as incompetent as she is, Puerto Rico shouldn’t be talking about statehood until they get some people that really know what they’re doing,” Trump said in an interview on Cleveland’s WTAM radio Monday morning.
“With people like that involved in Puerto Rico, I would be an absolute no,” he added.
Rossello entered office in early 2017 and has pushed for statehood since then. His efforts were derailed after the island was hit by the devastating natural disaster last September.
Trump’s change of heart is at odds with the Republican Party’s 2016 political platform, which endorsed Puerto Rico’s becoming a state.
