Democratic House candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez condemned President Trump in a tweet with a personal twist after he accused Democrats of inflating the death toll numbers in Puerto Rico from last year’s hurricane season.
In a tweet directed at the president, Ocasio-Cortez, who is Latina, talked about how her grandfather died in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, becoming one of the “uncounted” deaths to which she claimed thousands of Puerto Ricans can attest.
“My own grandfather died in the aftermath of the storm. Uncounted,” she said. “Thousands of Puerto Ricans have similar stories. They have lost children, friends, & family members.”
My own grandfather died in the aftermath of the storm. Uncounted.
Thousands of Puerto Ricans have similar stories. They have lost children, friends, & family members.
Instead of finger-pointing, INVEST in the Marshall Plan for Puerto Rico + just transition to renewable energy. https://t.co/ncukYyJsRu
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) September 13, 2018
Trump, in a pair of tweets Thursday morning, questioned the validity of a study that estimated nearly 3,000 Puerto Rican deaths associated with the storm. Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello formally raised the death toll late last month from Hurricane Maria to 2,975 from 64 after the results of the study, which he commissioned, were released.
“3000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico,” Trump tweeted. “When I left the Island, AFTER the storm had hit, they had anywhere from 6 to 18 deaths. As time went by it did not go up by much. Then, a long time later, they started to report really large numbers, like 3000.”
He has cast blame on Democrats, without evidence, for making a politically motivated move against him.
“This was done by the Democrats in order to make me look as bad as possible when I was successfully raising Billions of Dollars to help rebuild Puerto Rico,” Trump added. “If a person died for any reason, like old age, just add them onto the list. Bad politics. I love Puerto Rico!”
Ocasio-Cortez has talked about her grandfather dying the aftermath of Maria previously. She tweeted about it in November, lamenting how she thought the federal government wasn’t doing a good enough job to help return power to the entire island.
On Thursday she promoted her support for Sens. Bernie Sanders’ $146 billion Puerto Rico recovery plan.
“Instead of finger-pointing, INVEST in the Marshall Plan for Puerto Rico + just transition to renewable energy,” she said in her tweet.
Ocasio-Cortez, a self-described democratic socialist, defeated Rep. Joe Crowley, a 10-term incumbent, in a New York primary earlier this year in what has been billed as one of the biggest political shockers of the year.
