Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora recently opened up about why he skipped President Trump's visit to the White House after leading his team to the 2018 World Series championship.
Cora admitted in an interview Wednesday on the “Mayor's Office” podcast that he missed the meeting with Trump because he wanted to prioritize his home country of Puerto Rico. When the Red Sox visited the White House in May 2019, Puerto Rico was still recovering from the damage caused by Hurricane Maria in 2017, and Cora was not satisfied with the federal government's response.
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Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora was born in Puerto Rico. (Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports)
“One thing I don't regret, but I think I should have been more clear about, was visiting the White House,” Cora said. “At that moment, I have nothing against the president. At that moment, it was Donald Trump, President Trump, but I didn't want to do anything at that stage while (Puerto Ricans) were still suffering. I felt like I was celebrating, which was bad. I didn't feel comfortable doing it. ”
Cora said it would have felt “awkward” to celebrate at the White House, given the state of the country at the time.
“We are part of the United States,” he continued. “What they've done for us is amazing, including the funding, but there was more work to be done. And while so many people are suffering here, they're saying, 'The White House It felt very awkward, like, 'Let's celebrate this.'” People took it like politics. My interests are sports and family. I regret that I wasn't clear about that. ”
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The Boston Red Sox defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the 2018 World Series. (AP)
In May 2019, Cora told reporters that the U.S. government has “done some great things at home,” but added that “we still have a long way to go.”
“I'd rather not go. And, you know, be consistent in everything,” Cora said of missing the White House visit.
Trump himself spoke from the Oval Office in September 2018, calling the hurricane response an “incredible success.”
“I think Puerto Rico has been incredibly successful,” President Trump said. “I think the work that FEMA and law enforcement and everyone did in conjunction with the governor in Puerto Rico was extraordinary. I think Puerto Rico was an incredible, unheralded success.”
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Cora said it would have felt “awkward” to celebrate at the White House, given the state of the country at the time. (Kim Clement Neitzel-Iman Images)
Hurricanes Irma and Maria struck the island in September 2017, with the official death toll from the latter rising to 2,975 in August 2018 from an initial death toll of 64.
The latest figures were revealed by an independent study ordered by the local government, prompting Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló to raise the official numbers.
The Trump administration's efforts in Puerto Rico have received widespread criticism. But after visiting the island in September 2017, the president said Puerto Ricans were lucky that the storm did not cause the kind of catastrophe that Hurricane Katrina caused along the Gulf Coast in 2005.
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