San Juan mayor wears T-shirt that says ‘NASTY’ in interview

WASHINGTON — The mayor of hurricane-ravaged San Juan, Puerto Rico, wore a shirt echoing the words of the president Wednesday.

In a television interview with Al Punto Univision, Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz wore a T-shirt with the word “NASTY” emblazoned on the front.

President Donald Trump had claimed in a tweet that Cruz was being told by Democrats to be nasty to him, after she begged for help for the residents of the U.S. territory in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

Trump visited Puerto Rico Tuesday and congratulated the residents for escaping the higher death toll of “a real catastrophe like Katrina” and heaped praise on the relief efforts of his administration without mentioning the sharp criticism the federal response has drawn.

Cruz wore a shirt that said “HELP US WE ARE DYING” Friday, in a CNN interview with Anderson Cooper.

San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz arrives at the San Francisco hospital during the evacuation of patients after an electrical plant failure, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017. President Donald Trump is lashing out at the mayor of Puerto Rico’s capital city in a war of words over recovery efforts after Hurricane Maria smashed into the U.S. territory. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)
Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz speaks with a man as she arrives at San Francisco hospital in the Rio Piedras area of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017, as about 35 patients are evacuated after the failure of an electrical plant. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)
Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz arrives at San Francisco hospital in Rio Piedras area of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017, as about 35 patients are evacuated after the failure of an electrical plant. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)
Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz arrives at San Francisco hospital in Rio Piedras in the middle of an evacuation of about 35 patients after the failure of an electrical plant, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)
Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz arrives at San Francisco hospital in Rio Piedras area of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017, as about 35 patients are evacuated after the failure of an electrical plant. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)
In this Oct. 3, 2017, photo, President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump walk after arrival at the Luis Muñiz Air National Guard Base in San Juan, Puerto Rico. According to a new poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 48 percent of Americans approve and just 27 percent disapprove of how Trump is handling the recoveries in U.S. states including Texas and Florida that were hit by hurricanes Harvey and Irma. But just 32 percent approve of how Trump is handling disaster relief in Puerto Rico, while 49 percent disapprove. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump greet military members on the USS Kearsarge off the coast of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Donald Trump talks about recovery efforts after arriving with first lady Melania Trump at Luis Muniz Air National Guard Base to survey hurricane damage, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Donald Trump talks about recovery efforts after arriving with first lady Melania Trump at Luis Muniz Air National Guard Base to survey hurricane damage, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Marine One helicopter carrying President Donald Trump surveys areas impacted by Hurricane Maria, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017, near San Juan, Puerto Rico. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Donald Trump shakes hands with San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz during a briefing on hurricane recovery efforts with first responders at Luis Muniz Air National Guard Base, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Donald Trump tosses paper towels into a crowd as he hands out supplies at Calvary Chapel, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017, in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. Trump is in Puerto Rico to survey hurricane damage. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Donald Trump and Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló, center, listen to residents and survey hurricane damage and recovery efforts in a neighborhood in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
In this Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017 photo, the foundation of a heavily damaged house stands in the mountains after the passing of Hurricane Maria in the San Lorenzo neighborhood of Morovis, Puerto Rico. FEMA chief Brock Long said the agency has worked to fix roads, establish emergency power and deliver fuel to hospitals. He said telecommunications are available to about one-third of the island. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
In this Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017 photo, the foundation of a heavily damaged house stands in the mountains after the passing of Hurricane Maria in the San Lorenzo neighborhood of Morovis, Puerto Rico. FEMA chief Brock Long said the agency has worked to fix roads, establish emergency power and deliver fuel to hospitals. He said telecommunications are available to about one-third of the island. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Residents meet with FEMA representatives to file forms for federal aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria at the Jose de Diego Elementary School in Las Piedras, Puerto Rico, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017.  Power is still cut off on most of the island, schools and many businesses are closed and much of the countryside is struggling to find fresh water and food. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)
Residents meet with FEMA representatives to file forms for federal aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria at the Jose de Diego Elementary School in Las Piedras, Puerto Rico, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017. Power is still cut off on most of the island, schools and many businesses are closed and much of the countryside is struggling to find fresh water and food. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)
Ramon Sortre Vazquez, back, drinks coffee next to his brother Angel Luis, next to a flag of the United States in what is left of his house destroyed by Hurricane Maria, in Moravis, Puerto Rico, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. Ramon suffers from diabetes and he says that he been 10 days without insulin because the lack of power has not let him keep the medicine in a cool place. (AP Photo / Ramon Espinosa)
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President Donald Trump talks about recovery efforts after arriving with first lady Melania Trump at Luis Muniz Air National Guard Base to survey hurricane damage, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
In this Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017 photo, the foundation of a heavily damaged house stands in the mountains after the passing of Hurricane Maria in the San Lorenzo neighborhood of Morovis, Puerto Rico. FEMA chief Brock Long said the agency has worked to fix roads, establish emergency power and deliver fuel to hospitals. He said telecommunications are available to about one-third of the island. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Residents meet with FEMA representatives to file forms for federal aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria at the Jose de Diego Elementary School in Las Piedras, Puerto Rico, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017.  Power is still cut off on most of the island, schools and many businesses are closed and much of the countryside is struggling to find fresh water and food. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)

The death toll in Puerto Rico now stands at 34. Many continue to struggle to find water and food outside the capital, and only 5 percent have power back.

Then-Republican candidate Trump called Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton a “nasty woman” during the final presidential debate in October 2016.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Abigail Constantino

Abigail Constantino started her journalism career writing for a local newspaper in Fairfax County, Virginia. She is a graduate of American University and The George Washington University.

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