NY Times' Peter Baker: Trump “actually went to war in some ways with Puerto Rico after two hurricanes”
Baker: “He talked in private with his aides about selling Puerto Rico. Didn't even seem to know, by the way, that Puerto Rico is an American — is part of the United States.”
Published
Citation From the October 29, 2024, edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe
PETER BAKER (NEW YORK TIMES): I was at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, and what struck me was that this comic obviously was the more extreme version of what was happening. But he's the only one whose comments were disavowed by the Trump campaign, and there were plenty of other people speaking that day, that evening, who said things that would normally be out of bounds in politics — using all kinds of profanity, insulting Palestinians, insulting people — transgender, insulting Democrats, insulting, you know, chanting "Tampon Tim" about Tim Walz, and so on and so forth.
And you're right to say that I think that this is actually the message. The message is we are liberated from the shackles of wokedom, of political correctness. Tucker Carlson basically said that from the stage. He says that Donald Trump has liberated us from having to tell the lies. That was his phrase. And I think by the lies, what he means are that we are basically nice to other people. That we don't, in fact — you know, that we are not allowed to denigrate other people on the basis of their ethnicity, nationality, religion, all those things. And you heard it time and time again from speaker after speaker. It was really striking.
One thing, though, that is really important to remember about Puerto Rico specifically, is there's a history here. Donald Trump was president for four years, which we often seem to forget. And while he was president, he was the one who actually went to war in some ways with Puerto Rico after two hurricanes. He was so mad at the mayor of San Juan for not showing proper deference that he wanted to pull aid from hurricane victims. He talked in private with his aides about selling Puerto Rico. Didn't even seem to know, by the way, that Puerto Rico is an American — is part of the United States, Mika, to your point, that they are Americans. He in fact talked about trading Puerto Rico for Greenland. Let's get some of those people from Greenland who are not, well, let's say, Puerto Ricans. And all of that is history here when we talk about the Trump campaign's point of view when it comes to Puerto Rico.