When people die, it is possible to count them accurately. This comes as a surprise to President Trump.
Trump denied that Hurricane Maria caused the deaths of nearly 3,000 people in Puerto Rico. The death toll, he claimed instead, has been inflated by his political opponents. This, of course, is ridiculous.
3000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico. 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…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 13, 2018
…..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. If a person died for any reason, like old age, just add them onto the list. Bad politics. I love Puerto Rico!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 13, 2018
Researchers at The George Washington University conducted the study which increased the estimated death toll from 64 to 2,975. Their motives are not known, but their numbers and methodology are. A comparatively small number of people were killed by high winds and flooding water when the storm crossed over the island. Many more died in the aftermath, in the stifling heat on a crippled island already ill-equipped to deal with an emergency.
[Related: Nobody knows how many people died in Puerto Rico during Hurricane Maria]
It does not matter whether they died directly or indirectly because of the storm. Every death was a loss and, for now, it seems that most were unavoidable, unless one can turn back the clock on decades of local mismanagement and corruption.
Trump is not responsible for the tropical cyclone and, despite his stupid rhetoric, he did his best to provide relief for the island. He sent the National Guard and FEMA, eventually touring the island himself. Later, the president signed off on $16 billion in federal aid in a disaster recovery package. Could Trump have handled things better? Probably. Was Trump responsible for the deaths? Not at all, and no one serious says so.
The problem is an obvious one because it keeps happening. Trump cannot separate himself from any situation. He feels criticism even if it isn’t genuine or directed at him specifically. He reacts, and he reacts poorly, like we just saw. It was so stupid that even the Florida Republicans who normally parrot the president had to rebuke him.
Ron DeSantis has leaned on the White House while making his run for Florida governor, but early Thursday, even he was distancing himself from the president. “Ron DeSantis is committed to standing with the Puerto Rican community, especially after such a tragic loss of life. He doesn’t believe any loss of life has been inflated,” DeSantis said in a statement.
Gov. Rick Scott, who is currently in a tight race against Sen. Bill Nelson, was even more aggressive on Twitter:
I disagree with @POTUS– an independent study said thousands were lost and Gov. Rosselló agreed. I’ve been to Puerto Rico 7 times & saw devastation firsthand. The loss of any life is tragic; the extent of lives lost as a result of Maria is heart wrenching. I’ll continue to help PR
— Rick Scott (@ScottforFlorida) September 13, 2018
It is apparent to everyone except the president himself that it’s inappropriate to gripe about the hurricane dead. With Hurricane Florence barreling down on the Carolinas, Trump should try to figure this out and quick.
