Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced endorsed President Trump’s reelection campaign on Monday.
“I ask all Puerto Ricans that are listening to go vote,” Ms. Vázquez Garced, a pro-statehood Republican, told Telemundo, according to a translation by The Miami Herald.
“They have to go vote, exercise their right to vote, and evaluate who has Puerto Ricans and their needs in the hardest moment … It’s Donald Trump,” she said.
The governor remarked, “no one is perfect,” when asked about a controversial moment in 2017 when Mr. Trump was seen on video tossing paper towels to Puerto Ricans in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.
Ms. Vázquez was supposed to participate in a Trump campaign rally in Sanford, Florida, last Friday, but it was canceled after the president tested positive for COVID-19. Ms. Vázquez said she plans to meet with the president sometime in the future to discuss “subjects about Puerto Rico,” The Herald reported.
Angelo Fernández, a Democratic National Committee spokesman, who is Puerto Rican, slammed the governor’s endorsement in a statement to The Herald.
“Governor Vázquez Garced continues to fail to put Puerto Ricans first, from her track record after earthquakes shook Puerto Rico earlier this year, to the 29 instances of femicide we have seen in Puerto Rico this year,” Mr. Fernández said. “Nobody is perfect,’ said Governor Vázquez Garced of Donald Trump, a truly ringing endorsement for a candidate who has treated Puerto Ricans as second-class citizens.”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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