After President Donald Trump took to Twitter Saturday morning to criticize San Juan, Puerto Rico Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz by reviving his "nasty" epithet, the mayor responded by doubling down on her calls for aid to the territory.
Speaking from the ground in San Juan, CNN contributor and retired Army Lt. Russel L. Honoré, who lead New Orleans' response to Hurricane Katrina a decade ago, defended the mayor that the president criticized online from his golf resort in New Jersey.
"She's trying to care for her people," Honoré said. "She's putting out a cry for help."
Cruz, he continued, is "going around getting medicine for her people."
The day prior, Cruz made headlines in an emotional message to the president deriding his claims that he's done an "incredible job" responding to the post-Maria crisis on the island territory.
"Enough is enough,” said Cruz. "The world will see how we are treated — not as second-class citizens, but as animals that can be disposed of."
Watch Honoré defend Cruz's "passion" for her people below, via CNN.