San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz chose President Donald Trump's visit to Puerto Rico on Tuesday to "make a political statement instead of focusing on the relief efforts," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday.
"I think it is sad," Sanders told reporters at the daily briefing. "The president invited her to be part of that conversation.
"He opened the floor up for discussion — and she actually made zero comments.
"To me, that would have been the time and the place that she should have weighed in and asked for what she needed and laid out what she was asking for San Juan," Sanders added. "She didn't."
Yulín Cruz, long critical of the administration's efforts, ripped Trump's visit to Maria-ravaged Puerto Rico on Tuesday.
She labeled him "miscommunicator-in-chief" to CNN and said that his comments on the island proved a "lack of sensibility."
During a meeting with Puerto Rican officials and his administration at a Federal Emergency Management Agency site, Trump referenced the island's impact on the federal budget.
"Now I hate to tell you, Puerto Rico, but you've thrown our budget a little out of whack because we've spent a lot of money on Puerto Rico," the president said. "And that's fine. We've saved a lot of lives."
Sanders bashed Yulín Cruz on Thursday for slamming the president to the media after the session.
"Instead, she chose to wait until the president left and then criticize him on TV, which I think is the wrong thing for her to do for her constituents," Sanders told reporters.
"I hope next time she's given the opportunity to help her constituents, she'll take it."
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