Fox News anchor Martha McCallum was harshly criticized after she appeared not to know that Puerto Rico is a United States territory while reporting on Hurricane Ian.
McCallum and fellow Fox anchors were discussing Ian’s impact on the state of Florida after it hit the western portion of the state as a Category 4 storm and brought significant destruction in its wake.
She then brought up Ian’s impact on Cuba—where two people died this week—as well as the effects of Hurricane Fiona on the island of Puerto Rico, which has been an unincorporated territory of the United States since 1898.
You can hear what she said in the video below.
Puerto Ricans have been U.S. citizens since 1917 and can move freely between the island and the mainland. However, as residents of an unincorporated territory, American citizens of Puerto Rico are disenfranchised at the national level, do not vote for the President or Vice President, and generally do not pay federal income tax.
The island has also been at the center of controversy in recent years after the former Trump administration failed to provide federal aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, which destroyed infrastructure and killed thousands according to oft-disputed body counts.
