Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton pledged to fix Puerto Rico’s healthcare problems during a roundtable discussion in San Juan on Friday evening.
Clinton decried the “unfortunate legacy of inconsistent, incoherent and inequitable treatment” in the commonwealth. As the local panelists spoke about struggles with their hospitals and quality of care, Clinton nodded, took notes and asked follow-up questions, as if she was hearing the information for the first time.
“I believe that our president should give just as much attention to the U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico as they should anywhere else in our country,” Clinton declared.
After arriving over an hour late to the healthcare roundtable, Clinton thanked the audience and introduced herself, something she usually doesn’t do on the U.S. mainland.
Residents of the island won’t vote in November 2016, but Puerto Rico holds both Democratic and Republican primaries. There is also a large Puerto Rican vote in several states, a fact Clinton alluded to in her talk.
Clinton said that when she was in the Senate, she “felt like” she was representing Puerto Rico as well as New York, due to the large Puerto Rican population in the New York City area.
More than one panelist referred to Clinton as “our future president,” others begged her to fix the island’s healthcare problems “when you are elected,” and she received multiple cheers and rounds of applause from the local audience.
Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio are two Republican presidential candidates who have traveled to Puerto Rico. Unlike Clinton, they both speak Spanish. Bush has come out for Puerto Rican statehood.
