CNN Analyst Claims Donald Trump Only Cares About Hurricane Dorian For Political Gain
On Saturday evening, a CNN analyst made accusations that President Donald Trump is only showing concern for residents of Florida who are in the potential path of Hurricane Dorian because of political reasons — specifically, electoral votes.
CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson, during a segment on Wolf Blitzer’s The Situation Room, explained that Trump is showing noticeably more concern for Florida than he did for Puerto Rico’s past disaster troubles from Hurricane Maria because of “race” and “politics,” according to the Washington Examiner.
“I think it’s obvious,” Joey Jackson said. “It pertains to race and pertains to politics…how many electoral votes does Puerto Rico have? Zero. How much participation do they have in the presidential election? Zero. How much representation do they have in Congress? Zero.”
Jackson went on to suggest that the president is pandering to Florida residents as a way to use the potentially catastrophic hurricane to his political advantage in the 2020 presidential election.
“Florida is always a state of contention, tied with New York, you’ve got to get it,” he said. “Who are you going to pander to? The people you need to elect you. Simple question, simple answer, and that is race in politics.”
Over the past week, top Democrats have publicly blasted the president over his diversion of $271 million in funds earmarked for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to bolster border enforcement agencies and programs, according to Fox News.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer slammed the president for the move in a Wednesday tweet, demanding that the president concentrate on working with FEMA in preparation of Hurricane Dorian’s landfall.
Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy tweeted his strong disapproval of Trump moving FEMA funds to fund his “hateful wall” and said Puerto Rico deserves better. At the time of his tweet, Puerto Rico was in the direct path of Hurricane Dorian.
Sen. Mazie Hirono claimed in a tweet that Trump cares more about “being cruel” to migrants at the southern U.S. border than protecting U.S. residents from natural disasters.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi piled on, adding in a Tuesday tweet that Trump’s “brazen theft” of funds from FEMA, in the midst of a potentially catastrophic U.S. mainland strike from Hurricane Dorian, is something she considers “stunningly reckless.”
As Puerto Rico and Florida brace for #HurricaneDorian, President Trump is depleting disaster aid funding to pay for his inhumane family separation and detention plan.
This is unconscionable. On many, many levels. https://t.co/EYsSQcqutV
— Michael Bennet (@SenatorBennet) August 28, 2019
As of Sunday morning, the National Hurricane Center upgraded Dorian to a Category 5 hurricane with sustained wind speeds of 180 miles per hour. NHC Director Ken Graham called the growing storm one of the strongest in the region’s history, at the current time.
Its expected landfall was originally dialed in on Florida’s East coast; however, over the past 24 hours, the storm’s track appeared to shift slightly, painting Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas all as possible points of landfall for the massive storm.
