Red Sox manager Alex Cora calls President Donald Trump's comments about Puerto Rico 'disrespectful'
Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora wasn’t a big fan of President Donald Trump’s comments Thursday about Puerto Rico. Cora called Trump’s attempt to downplay the deaths caused by Hurricane Maria “disrespectful,” according to the Boston Globe.
Cora told reporters he respects Trump, but noted that he doesn’t “agree with a lot of stuff he says about us.”
Trump disputed the death toll in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria, denying that 3,000 people died on the island. Trump said there were “6 to 18 deaths” shortly after the storm hit Puerto Rico in 2017. Trump then added that the high death toll was a result of Democrats trying to make him look bad.
Cora, who was born in Puerto Rico, took issue with those comments.
“It’s actually disrespectful for my country,” said Cora, who was wearing a black T-shirt with an image of Puerto Rico on the front. “We see it that way. I know he probably doesn’t feel that way.
“Hey, man, thank you for helping us. He went down there; he did what he did. I hate talking about politics and all that. But I think this is more than politics. This is about a country that really suffered.”
Cora stressed that last point, saying he didn’t view the issue as political. He said it was “about human beings.” While Cora acknowledged the government helped Puerto Rico, he questioned whether it did enough.
“The aftereffects, people don’t talk about that,” he said. “When you don’t have food, you don’t have water, no communication, no medicine. Then this happens.
“One thing for sure, the government helped. We do feel that they helped us. I don’t know if it was efficient, it was enough. I don’t know.”
In August, George Washington University released a study estimating that 2,975 people died in Puerto Rico as a result of Hurricane Maria. The university issued a statement Thursday, saying it stood by that study.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
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