San Juan mayor fires back at Trump: ‘Shame on you’

Carmen Yulín Cruz, mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, fired back at President Trump after he said the U.S. couldn’t keep FEMA, the military and first responders on the hurricane-ravaged island “forever.”

“It is not that you do not get it; you are incapable of fulfilling the moral imperative to help the people of PR,” Cruz tweeted Monday. “Shame on you!”

“[Y]our comments about Puerto Rico are unbecoming of a Commander in Chief they seem more to come from a ‘Hater in Chief,'” she continued.

@POTUS It is not that you do not get it; you are incapable of fulfilling the moral imperative to help the people of PR. Shame on you.!

— Carmen Yulín Cruz (@CarmenYulinCruz) October 12, 2017

@POTUS your comments about Puerto Rico are unbecoming of a Commander in Chief they seem more to come from a “Hater in Chief”.

— Carmen Yulín Cruz (@CarmenYulinCruz) October 12, 2017

In a series of tweets Monday morning, Trump said the federal response to the crisis in the U.S. territory couldn’t last “forever.”

“We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!” Trump tweeted.

Trump also said the island’s debt and infrastructure problems were complicating recovery efforts. 

“Puerto Rico survived the Hurricanes, now a financial crisis looms largely of their own making.” says Sharyl Attkisson. A total lack of…..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 12, 2017

…accountability say the Governor. Electric and all infrastructure was disaster before hurricanes. Congress to decide how much to spend….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 12, 2017

…We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 12, 2017

Cruz has been a strong critic of the Trump administration’s response to the devastation in Puerto Rico, saying the federal government has been slow to provide needed aid.

Trump attacked Cruz on Twitter in late September, saying she had been “nasty” to him and accusing her of showing “poor leadership ability.”

{mosads}In an interview this week, Cruz said she doesn’t care about Trump’s attacks against her.

“This isn’t about me or politics. I’m not going to be the face you see out there just giving you a box of food for the photo op,” she told PRI.org.

“I’m the face of the person who is going to make sure somebody gets that to you … so like the last scene of ‘Gone With the Wind’ — ‘Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.'”

Just 17 percent of Puerto Ricans currently have power, according to the government’s online tracker.

-Updated at 11:20 a.m.