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  • 2019-01-15 (xsd:date)
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  • Were U.S. Democratic Lawmakers 'Partying' in Puerto Rico During the Government Shutdown? (en)
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  • Amid the partial, U.S. federal government shutdown in January 2019, right-leaning media outlets and President Donald Trump both tried to paint an excursion by Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) members to Puerto Rico as idle partying by the lawmakers. More than 30 Democratic lawmakers went to the island, a U.S. territory, as part of an event organized by the CHC's political action committee, Bold PAC. Committee Chairman Rep. Tony Cárdenas, based out of California, said of the choice to have the event there that One of the reasons was to show that going to Puerto Rico means that you're helping fellow Americans and you're helping the American economy and in addition to that, the more important side than that is making sure that we came to see for ourselves what is the condition of Puerto Rico. How bad is it? And it's bad. According to the Washington Post, the conference also included informational sessions covering the territory's ongoing recovery from Hurricane Maria in 2017. Various news reports stated that the event had been planned for months prior to the government shutdown, which began on 22 December 2018. The conclave also coincided with the opening weekend performances of Lin Manuel Miranda's musical Hamilton, which kicked off a three-week run raising funds for the Flamboyan Arts Fund, a local charity organization. However, lawmakers attending a performance of the show paid out of pocket for their tickets, which reportedly cost more than $500 each. Conservative media outlets ran articles critical of the Democratic retreat, with some claiming that the lawmakers were partying. A Fox News producer also tweeted a photograph of Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey at a beach: Similarly, Fox News host Jeanine Pirro claimed that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was also partying as part of the group, but she retracted that statement on her own Twitter account: We contacted both the CHC and Bold PAC seeking comment but did not receive a response prior to publication. The latter group did respond on Twitter to criticism from President Donald Trump, however: (en)
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