Hogan Gidley doesn't know a basic tenet of United States geography.
The White House Deputy Press Secretary in an interview with MSNBC referred to Puerto Rico as "that country" twice even though it's been a U.S. territory for more than two centuries.
“With all they’ve done in that country, they’ve had a systematic mismanagement of the goods and services we’ve sent to them,” Gidley said in comments regarding the national response to Hurricane Maria in 2017. “You’ve seen food just rotting in the ports. Their governor has done a horrible job. He’s trying to make political hay in a political year, and he’s trying to find someone to take the blame off of his for not having a grid and not having a good system in that country at all.”
Discussing Trump lashing out at Puerto Ricans and complaining they've received too much money, White House spokespe… https://t.co/omjiZd2wD7— Justin Baragona (@Justin Baragona) 1554215471.0
Gidley was swiftly called out by MSNBC's Hallie Jackson:
"The president says Puerto Ricans are taking from the U.S.A. Puerto Rico is part of the United States. People who live in Puerto Rico live in the United States. You’re rolling your eyes and I don’t know why you’re rolling your eyes.”
MSNBC's @HallieJackson to WH dep. press secretary Hogan Gidley: Trump "says Puerto Ricans are taking from the USA.… https://t.co/P5Oob1RlTZ— Matthew Gertz (@Matthew Gertz) 1554215808.0
Gidley later attributed his misstatements to “a slip of the tongue," but for many, his statements are symbolic of the Trump administration's disregard for its own people.
Hogan Gidley revealed today that Trumpism is just the same as don’t-know-shit-about-shit Palinism but with more racism and sneering cruelty.— Adam Parkhomenko (@Adam Parkhomenko) 1554220275.0
That was no slip of the tongue from racist Hogan Gidley. #MSNBC— Tina (@Tina) 1554215358.0
Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal: "We've got to stop being the stupid party." Trump White House spokesman Hogan Gidley… https://t.co/iidyay4PDi— Keith Boykin (@Keith Boykin) 1554222534.0
White House spokesperson Hogan Gidley twice refers to #PuertoRico as "that country". Doesn’t he know that the pla… https://t.co/R4Zm2aM4L4— Geovanny Vicente Romero (@Geovanny Vicente Romero) 1554229156.0
"That country"? Hogan Gidley needs to be sent there to do community service for a year... although they probably wo… https://t.co/pQndfQbp8a— TERRYLEENLV 🌊🌊 (@TERRYLEENLV 🌊🌊) 1554221105.0
Gidley's appearance comes after President Donald Trump posted several factually inaccurate tweets about the amount of federal government aid that Puerto Rico has received.
The president claimed that Puerto Rican politicians are “incompetent or corrupt” and claimed that Puerto Rico has been "already been scheduled to receive more hurricane relief funding than any 'place' in history.
The Democrats today killed a Bill that would have provided great relief to Farmers and yet more money to Puerto Ric… https://t.co/SX45v3igaS— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1554173420.0
....are GREAT, but the politicians are incompetent or corrupt. Puerto Rico got far more money than Texas & Florida… https://t.co/oBbjFdtdAG— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1554174704.0
....the crazed and incompetent Mayor of San Juan have done such a poor job of bringing the Island back to health.… https://t.co/eD5mRgRMaK— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1554176309.0
The president further claimed that the island territory had received "91 Billion Dollars for the hurricane, more money than has ever been gotten for a hurricane before" and said that Puerto Ricans "only take from the USA."
Puerto Rico got 91 Billion Dollars for the hurricane, more money than has ever been gotten for a hurricane before,… https://t.co/Er1PpPgyc0— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1554204797.0
....The best thing that ever happened to Puerto Rico is President Donald J. Trump. So many wonderful people, but wi… https://t.co/X5cR874uH3— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1554205526.0
In fact, a Washington Postreport revealed that $11 billion has been sent to the island so far, far less than the $120 billion already spent in response to 2005's Hurricane Katrina. The $91 billion sum Trump cites is an estimate of Puerto Rico’s recovery over the next few decades.
Moreover, a Government Accountability Office report issued last September found no evidence of the fraud or misappropriation of resources that Trump or Gidley suggests took place. The agency actually slammed FEMA, which Trump has often praised.
“FEMA did not have enough bilingual employees to communicate with local residents or translate documents,” the GAO wrote, which “resulted in further delays while staff were reshuffled from other disasters to Puerto Rico.”
A George Washington University study published in August 2018 revised the island’s official death toll to 2,975 people, many of whom died due to lack of aid, electricity, water, and access to medical care. The Trump administration shuffled its feet in response to the disaster and was savaged for offering aid remarkably quickly to the victims of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma by comparison.