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Trump rushed to Texas and Florida in the wake of hurricanes, but has been less public in his response for the U.S territory crippled by Maria.

The White House on Monday defended President Donald Trump’s muted response to the devastation Hurricane Maria left behind in Puerto Rico, brushing off criticism that he’s been more interested in kneeling NFL players than a U.S. territory suffering from a humanitarian crisis.

Before Monday night, Trump last tweeted about the storm on Sept. 20, writing, “Governor @RicardoRossello- We are with you and the people of Puerto Rico. Stay safe! #PRStrong.”

For five days after that, as the scale of the devastation became apparent, Trump did not address the catastrophe from his Twitter account. Over the same period, he tweeted twice about Hillary Clinton, three times about Sen. Luther Strange (R-Ala.), once about NBA star Steph Curry and 12 times about the NFL, along with numerous additional posts about the national anthem that did not explicitly mention the NFL.

“It really doesn’t take that long to type out 140 characters and this president is very capable of doing more than one thing at a time and more than one thing in a day,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday, arguing that Trump’s Twitter feed should not be taken as an indication of his priorities.

Several hours after Sanders spoke, and after four days of back and forth with the NFL, Trump wrote a series of tweets about the dire situation Puerto Rico, contrasting it with Texas and Florida, which he said were “doing great” after Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Puerto Rico, he said, was in “big trouble” and had already been suffering from “broken infrastructure & massive debt.”

“It's old electrical grid, which was in terrible shape, was devastated. Much of the Island was destroyed, with billions of dollars.... owed to Wall Street and the banks which, sadly, must be dealt with. Food, water and medical are top priorities — and doing well. #FEMA,” the president tweeted.

Earlier Monday, Sanders called the Trump administration’s response to the storm “unprecedented,” even as it has been far less public than the responses to Irma and Harvey. Maria has left much of Puerto Rico — a U.S. territory of 3.4 million citizens — without power and with limited access to food and water.

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White House defends Trump’s NFL fixation as Puerto Rico seeks help

Trump rushed to Texas and Florida in the wake of hurricanes, but has been less public in his response for the U.S territory crippled by Maria.

The White House on Monday defended President Donald Trump’s muted response to the devastation Hurricane Maria left behind in Puerto Rico, brushing off criticism that he’s been more interested in kneeling NFL players than a U.S. territory suffering from a humanitarian crisis.

Before Monday night, Trump last tweeted about the storm on Sept. 20, writing, “Governor @RicardoRossello- We are with you and the people of Puerto Rico. Stay safe! #PRStrong.”

For five days after that, as the scale of the devastation became apparent, Trump did not address the catastrophe from his Twitter account. Over the same period, he tweeted twice about Hillary Clinton, three times about Sen. Luther Strange (R-Ala.), once about NBA star Steph Curry and 12 times about the NFL, along with numerous additional posts about the national anthem that did not explicitly mention the NFL.

“It really doesn’t take that long to type out 140 characters and this president is very capable of doing more than one thing at a time and more than one thing in a day,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday, arguing that Trump’s Twitter feed should not be taken as an indication of his priorities.

Several hours after Sanders spoke, and after four days of back and forth with the NFL, Trump wrote a series of tweets about the dire situation Puerto Rico, contrasting it with Texas and Florida, which he said were “doing great” after Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Puerto Rico, he said, was in “big trouble” and had already been suffering from “broken infrastructure & massive debt.”

“It's old electrical grid, which was in terrible shape, was devastated. Much of the Island was destroyed, with billions of dollars.... owed to Wall Street and the banks which, sadly, must be dealt with. Food, water and medical are top priorities — and doing well. #FEMA,” the president tweeted.

Earlier Monday, Sanders called the Trump administration’s response to the storm “unprecedented,” even as it has been far less public than the responses to Irma and Harvey. Maria has left much of Puerto Rico — a U.S. territory of 3.4 million citizens — without power and with limited access to food and water.

Read more