In response to Rick Scott kicking Puerto Ricans out of his Friday event and traveling to the island today, State Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith released the following statement:

“Rick Scott continues to ignore the real needs of Puerto Rican evacuees in exchange for photo ops on the island to make it look like he cares. He himself created a housing crisis by slashing affordable housing funds against the advice of community leaders and added insult to injury when he threw out Puerto Rican evacuees who asked him for help at his Kissimmee event. Rick Scott refused to stand up to his best friend Donald Trump while the administration ignored the needs of our fellow Americans and cut off aid to the island. Scott can wave the Puerto Rico flag as much as he wants, but it doesn’t change his record of inaction that left Puerto Rican evacuees homeless, in need of housing, health care, and jobs that pay more than $8.25 per hour.”

.@WFTV reports– Homeless Puerto Rican evacuees in need of help THROWN OUT of @FLGovScott‘s Orlando campaign roundtable w/community leaders! Why won’t the Gov explain his decision to slash affordable housing funds by $185M this year while Boricuas are living in cars? pic.twitter.com/6gzYEjWSd9

— Rep. Carlos G Smith (@CarlosGSmith) April 22, 2018

Details about Rick Scott’s Record on Puerto Rico:

WFTV: Puerto Rican Evacuees Thrown Out of Rick Scott Event: Concerned evacuees on the verge of homelessness were turned away from a Rick Scott event where he was supposed to be talking about the concerns of the Puerto Rican community.

Miami Herald: Scott Refused To Criticize Trump On Puerto Rico Hurricane Maria Response: “Scott and Rubio have also traveled to Puerto Rico in the past week, and Rubio sent four staffers to the island to assist in the relief efforts. Both have studiously avoided criticizing Trump. ‘I’m not here to assign blame,’ Scott said Monday when asked if the federal response was slow. ‘I know that we’ve worked hard to make sure we solve our problems in our state, and I know Gov. [Ricardo] Rosselló is doing [the same] over there in Puerto Rico.'”