A Fox News anchor is being mocked on social media for apparently forgetting that Puerto Rico is a US territory as she covered Hurricane Ian.
Martha MacCallum was telling Fox News viewers about the devastating impacts of hurricanes in places such as Cuba and Puerto Rico on Wednesday when she quipped: “Thank God we have better infrastructure in our country”.
She continued: “We’ve put a lot of investment in to make sure we’re ready for these things but its an act of nature. You never know what to expect.”
Many scolded MacCallum for failing to mention that Puerto Rico was in fact part of the US and had been battered by Hurricane Fiona earlier this month before Hurricane Ian passed on its way to Florida, where it made landfall with 155mph winds.
“Puerto Rico has been a US territory sense the flippin 1800’s!” wrote one Twitter user. “And does she mean the ‘better’ infurstructure that was destroyed by the 150 plus mile an hour winds?”
Another wrote: “Pretty Bad when FOX news or better yet the MAGA broadcast network doesn’t know Puerto Rico is a US Territory.”
“Puerto Rico is our country & there’s few areas in the continental US that aren’t one severe weather event away from looking like The Walking Dead,” added a third person.
Many in Puerto Rico are still without power or electricity despite a disaster declaration by President Joe Biden and the release of emergency federal assistance to the territory, which had only just begun recovering from a devastating hurricane in 2017 that destroyed the island’s power network when it was hit by Fiona.
As reported by Politico, Biden promised to visit Puerto Rico in recent days despite the recovery and rescue operation underway in Florida, which has been devastated by a Category 4 storm.
Millions are still without power and many remain waiting to be rescued, while entire coastal communities have been destroyed in the state.
“I want to be clear: To the people of Puerto Rico, we’re not going away,” Mr Biden said on Thursday. “I am committed to you and the recovery of the island. We’ll stand by you for however long it takes to get it done.”
