Actress Rosie Perez said Friday that the White House's weak response to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria "will be a stain on Donald Trump's name forever."
Perez, 53, who was born in Brooklyn to parents from Puerto Rico, told Brooke Baldwin on CNN: "Send in the troops. Send in the money. Send in everything that you can have.
"Please, when you talk about Puerto Rico, show some empathy," Perez said. "Show some compassion.
"What you're doing right now, it ain't cutting it."
Perez was among many entertainers who have slammed President Trump's response to the devastation on the island from the hurricane, which hit the mainland on Sept. 20.
Others included Rihanna — and such Puerto Ricans entertainers as Ricky Martin, Marc Anthony and Alyssa Milano have worked to raise money for relief efforts for the island.
Perez said she has family on the island—and "they're alive, but they're very, very heartbroken and struggling because they need supplies.
"They need water. They need food. They need shelter."
Perez said that "the devastation is just beginning" — since Puerto Rico has as many as 20 superfund sites, along with the rotting carcasses of animals, possibly other residents, who have died from the storm.
"Once the animals decompose, that's a terrible health hazard," she said.
Her feelings have ranged from shock to dismay.
"Then it turned into tears, and then it turned into raging anger from the president's response," Perez told Baldwin, referring to Trump's references to the financial costs of rebuilding Puerto Rico.
"You don't kick people when they're down," she said. "How about we talk about the cost of saving lives first — and then we can move on from there.
"It's been terrible."
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