Hillary Clinton's chief spokesperson during her 2016 presidential campaign called President Donald Trump a "racist" on Monday in response to his criticism of San Juan's mayor.
Trump has been the target of criticism for attacking the mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Carmen Yulín Cruz, on Saturday for "such poor leadership ability" in the wake of the hurricane that devastated Puerto Rico last month. Cruz had criticized the Trump administration's response to the disaster, and said people were dying as a result.
The attacks on the mayor prompted Brian Fallon, the 2016 Clinton campaign press secretary, to tweet that there was a simple explanation for Trump's words.
"Enough with the pieces trying to perform political analysis on Trump's attacks on the San Juan mayor," Fallon tweeted. "Sometimes a racist is just a racist."
Enough with the pieces trying to perform political analysis on Trump's attacks on the San Juan mayor.
Sometimes a racist is just a racist.
— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) October 2, 2017
Fallon told his followers on Saturday to donate to the Hispanic Federation, "if you are outraged by the President's racist tweets today."
If you are outraged by the President's racist tweets today, channel it into something positive by giving here https://t.co/ZoCZuYMb7c
— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) September 30, 2017
A week prior, Fallon had expressed his support of Cruz, writing, "Trump's racist neglect of Puerto Rico is threatening lives. It is time to start caring about the crisis there."
Trump's racist neglect of Puerto Rico is threatening lives. It is time to start caring about the crisis there.
— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) September 25, 2017