Days ago, there was a photograph of Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, chest deep in filthy water, holding a bullhorn, calling out to people in houses to see what help they need. Yesterday, there was footage of Donald Trump tossing rolls of paper towels into a crowd of Puerto Rican citizens. Pictures really do speak louder than words. Oh, but let’s mention Trump’s words too. He told people who have been without food, water and power for more than a week to “have a good time.” Then he said that Puerto Rico had really put a strain on the budget. I’m guessing, from Melania’s laughter, that this is her husband’s idea of a joke. Note to Mr. Trump and Melania: it’s not funny.

This is a man who wouldn’t survive two days without his junk food and his gold-plated bathrooms. And Donald Trump without electricity or cell service would be another version of a natural disaster; the raging storm that he would become would be felt for miles.

The sight of him tossing paper towels at people is appalling on so many levels. It was demeaning, disrespectful, it trivialized one of the worst natural disasters we have seen in our lifetimes. It looked like he was throwing peanuts to zoo animals. I have read comments that it showed his racism, that if they were white people he would have behaved differently. I’m not sure I agree. This is a man who has no empathy for anyone. He doesn’t care about human beings, period. He cares about himself.

I have no idea if a person can be born without empathy and compassion, or if it is siphoned out of them by their experiences growing up, and it doesn’t really make a difference. How Donald Trump became the Hollow Man is less important than the fact that he is that, and people are suffering as a result. Let us please not forget the image of him tossing paper towels at people who were left to suffer because he was too busy golfing to make sure that help was on the way. Let’s please not forget that he said Puerto Rico wasn’t as bad a disaster as Katrina because fewer people have died. His actual words were, Katrina was “a real disaster,” implying that Puerto Rico wasn’t so bad after all.

The disaster that looms over everything is the fact that America, a country once known for helping those in need, is now led by a man who can’t see past his own small needs, who spends days and nights feeding his fragile, bloated ego while millions outside his gold-plated world starve.