President Donald Trump defended his decision to throw paper towels into a crowd of Puerto Rican residents last Tuesday during his trip to the hurricane-ravaged island.
In an interview with Mike Huckabee that aired on the Christian TV network Trinity Broadcasting, Trump justified his paper towel throwing stunt because the towels were “beautiful” and “soft.” He said the Puerto Ricans were having “fun” too.
“They had these beautiful, soft towels. Very good towels. And I came in and there was a crowd of a lot of people. And they were screaming and they were loving everything. I was having fun, they were having fun. They said, ‘Throw ’em to me! Throw ’em to me, Mr. President!’ So the next day they said, ‘Oh it was so disrespectful to the people.’ It was just a made-up thing. And also when I walked in, the cheering was incredible,” he said.
“You were a rock star!” Huckabee said, recounting video of Trump’s visit.
Trump launched the paper towels into the crowd of cheering Puerto Ricans during a trip he took to evaluate the island’s recovery process. The island was devastated last month by Hurricane Maria, a category 5 storm that left of the island’s 3.5 million residents.
More than 90 percent of residents are still without powers and much of the island’s other infrastructure is in disrepair. Trump and his administration have been criticized for the slow response in recovering from the hurricane.
During Trump’s visit he had a number of political faux pas. He said Hurricane wasn’t a “real catastrophe” like Hurricane Katrina that devastated New Orleans in 2005. He also spent much of the weekend picking fights with San Juan’s mayor and joked about the impact that paying for the recovery to the damaged island would have on the United States’ budget.
