Four days in and President Trump is still defending his outdated claim over Labor Day weekend that Alabama could be hit by Hurricane Dorian.
“In the early days of the hurricane, when it was predicted that Dorian would go through Miami or West Palm Beach, even before it reached the Bahamas, certain models strongly suggested that Alabama & Georgia would be hit as it made its way through Florida & to the Gulf,” Trump said in a pair of tweets Thursday morning.
“Instead it turned North and went up the coast, where it continues now. In the one model through Florida, the Great State of Alabama would have been hit or grazed. In the path it took, no. Read my FULL FEMA statement. What I said was accurate! All Fake News in order to demean!” he added.
….Instead it turned North and went up the coast, where it continues now. In the one model through Florida, the Great State of Alabama would have been hit or grazed. In the path it took, no. Read my FULL FEMA statement. What I said was accurate! All Fake News in order to demean!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 5, 2019
The president first warned Alabama could be hit “harder than anticipated” on Sunday. Although early forecasts did show Dorian could head in Alabama’s direction last week, by Sunday meteorologists settled on a path that would take the hurricane up the East Coast.
The National Weather Station in Birmingham even put out a tweet after Trump first mentioned Alabama, asserting the state would not see “any impacts” from Dorian because it was projected to remain too far east.
Trump has repeatedly lashed out at the media for its coverage of his Alabama blunder. The president went so far as to present an outdated forecast map for Hurricane Dorian in the Oval Office on Wednesday that appeared to be doctored with a sharpie in order to add southeast Alabama in a National Hurricane Center forecast cone of uncertainty.
President @realDonaldTrump gives an update on Hurricane #Dorian: pic.twitter.com/CmxAXHY5AO
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 4, 2019
Later in the day Trump shared a week-old hurricane graphic showing the various model runs for Dorian before it had even slammed into the Bahamas with a disclaimer that said, “NHC Advisories and County Emergency Management Statements supersede this product. This graphic should compliment, not replace, NHC discussions. If anything on this graphic causes confusion, ignore the entire product.”
This was the originally projected path of the Hurricane in its early stages. As you can see, almost all models predicted it to go through Florida also hitting Georgia and Alabama. I accept the Fake News apologies! pic.twitter.com/0uCT0Qvyo6
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 4, 2019
