The Daily Mail visited the house of Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s grandmother, named Clotilde Rivera, after she tweeted about the conditions Rivera was living in due to the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.
In the original tweet, Cortez incorrectly blamed former President, Donald Trump, claiming Trump blocked aid to Puerto Rico after the hurricane hit. It also contained pictures of damages to the roof from the storm.
When the Daily Mail arrived at Rivera’s residence, they were met with a woman who claimed to be Cortez’s aunt, and wouldn’t give her name.
The woman said, “I am her aunt. We don’t speak for the community. We are private people, we don’t talk about our family.”
The Daily Mail said that the aunt refused to say the Trump Administration is at fault for the
“It’s a problem here in Puerto Rico with the administration and the distribution of help. It is not a problem with Washington. We had the assistance and it didn’t get to the people,” she said.
She added, “In this area, people need a lot of help. Many people have needed it for the past four years and haven’t had anything.”
When asked to go to speak with Rivera, the aunt said, “She’s not talking to anyone.”
The reporters then went to the area’s city hall and where they met with their Planning Director, Leslie Orma, who offered to fix the roof of Rivera’s home.
Orma said, “If we can get the name of the lady, we might be able to reach some other funding that could be helpful for her to ensure that she lives under appropriate conditions.”
“If the citizen comes and we are able to help, we will make every effort to support them,” she added.
Orma also denied Cortez’s comments saying “that’s not the case.”