U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s aunt in Puerto Rico has reportedly asserted that the congresswoman’s claims are inaccurate that former President Trump is responsible for the suffering of her grandmother after Hurricane Maria in 2017.
According to the U.K. Daily Mail, Ocasio-Cortez’s aunt allegedly stated that Puerto Rican politicians were to blame, not Trump: “I am her aunt,” she proclaimed. “We don’t speak for the community. We are private people, we don’t talk about our family.” She added: “It’s a problem here in Puerto Rico with the administration and the distribution of help. It is not a problem with Washington. We had the assistance and it didn’t get to the people.”
Ocasio-Cortez’s unnamed aunt commented: “In this area people need a lot of help. Many people have needed it for the past four years and haven’t had anything.”
The New York Democrat sent out a tweet on June 2 that claimed her grandmother and other Puerto Ricans were “forced to flee ancestral homes” because of Trump‘s handling of the hurricane aftermath. She put forth that her grandmother’s home was still in disrepair four years after the Category 5 storm due to Trump blocking aid.
Just over a week ago, my abuela fell ill. I went to Puerto Rico to see her- my 1st time in a year+ bc of COVID.
This is her home. Hurricane María relief hasn’t arrived. Trump blocked relief $ for PR.
People are being forced to flee ancestral homes, & developers are taking them. pic.twitter.com/wnRxLalA2D
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 2, 2021
“Just over a week ago, my abuela fell ill,” she tweeted to her followers concerning her 81-year-old grandmother Clotilde Rivera. “I went to Puerto Rico to see her- my 1st time in a year+ bc of COVID. This is her home. Hurricane María relief hasn’t arrived. Trump blocked relief $ for PR.”
Ocasio-Cortez posited that the Trump administration “had a major role” in keeping many Puerto Ricans from receiving hurricane relief funds. She also added that a good deal of the problem was “systemic,” and she additionally blamed “La Junta,” the island’s fiscal control board, along with local leaders. She highlighted that it resulted in “policies that pushed out local families.”
Ocasio-Cortez then called for audits to show how the relief funds were distributed. She went on to tell her Twitter followers that her grandmother was “doing okay” despite what the photos of her home suggested. “She had a place to go to and be cared for,” Ocasio-Cortez noted before asking, “what about the thousands of people who don’t?”
I want to be clear – while Trump admin had a major role, it wasn’t just them.
La Junta, local policies, etc were all on the same page: policies that pushed out local families.
To turn this around, we need audits & get recovery relief to people ASAP, without the onerous strings.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 2, 2021
Conservative pundit Matt Walsh of The Daily Wire set up a GoFundMe campaign for Ocasio-Cortez’s grandmother to help her with home repairs etc. that raised in excess of $104,000. The sum was rejected by unspecified relatives with no explanation.
(Video Credit: Fox News)
Walsh laid the blame directly on Ocaso-Cortez: “Shameful that you live in luxury while allowing your own grandmother to suffer in these squalid conditions.” The young congresswoman has two apartments, leases a Tesla, and yet evidently has not given assistance to her grandmother.
Walsh wrote on Twitter: “One cannot be certain of the cost to repair grandma’s house, but surely most of the work could be completed for the price of AOC’s shiny Tesla Model 3. Sadly, virtue signaling isn’t going to fix abuela’s roof. So we are. Let’s all kick in to help save AOC’s abuela’s ancestral home.”
UPDATE: “someone” in AOC’s abuela’s family told GoFundMe that she won’t take the money, even though AOC previously claimed that her grandma was in dire straits (and it was Trump’s fault). @AOC still hasn’t acknowledged this effort or thanked us. Here’s the email from GoFundMe: pic.twitter.com/MsM4ECLDX0
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) June 5, 2021
In the end, our campaign raised 100 thousand dollars and could have solved a problem in ten hours that AOC couldn’t solve in four years. We can all be proud of that. As for abuela, all we can do now is pray. pic.twitter.com/aKQLXXVnxE
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) June 5, 2021
You used your grandmother’s suffering to score political points. You’re the one who publicized this. So I am entitled now to ask why you haven’t bothered to fix your grandmother’s collapsing roof or buy her some new furniture? Why are you waiting for the government to do it? https://t.co/zePMbh0pD5
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) June 2, 2021
In the wake of Hurricane Maria. 90 percent of Puerto Rico’s 1.3 million residences were damaged or destroyed. Nearly 3,000 people died in connection to the storm.
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