Headline needs to do more than repeat Trump’s claims - it needs to say these claims are false. Too often, Times’ headlines fail to convey what is most newsworthy, i.e., our president lies like the rest of breathe.
Please NYT: Before quoting former campaign or Administration individuals like Christie and Bossert, add the caveat that they signed Trump's non-disclosure and non-disparagement agreements which remain in effect.
Did Trump cause the hurricane? No. Did FEMA do its best? Yes, A tragic loss of life ensued. The end. The rest is political elevator music.
5
No FEMA did not do it's best. Their response was subpar at best.
15
Even the head of FEMA has said their response was lacking. Trump can't admit that.
7
@Bob What is your basis for claiming FEMA did it’s best. Trumps word?
Donald Trump accuses *facts* of making him look bad. Verifiable facts. Which anyone can examine themselves. Facts. Reality.
The *truth* makes Trump look bad. Democrats and the media make King Trump so sad because they tell the truth.
5
What happened to "just the facts, ma'am" reporting? This article is full of loaded terms and its "analysis" is couched more like a polemic than a news report.
From reading it, it seems clear that Trump is just flat out lying or making things up out of thin air. Which he is of course prone to do. In any event, a reader comes away with the impression this is an open and shut case.
But I had to google to learn that several studies have been conducted on the death toll. A recent one in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that there were 1,139 excess deaths from September to December 2017 after Maria made landfall.
You'd think citing to the various studies is more relevant to this report than soundbites from a former Democratic governor of Virginia.
3
Acording to the Huffpost FEMA has a rumor check site for information about hurricane Florence. The government needs to create one for all the falsehoods that roll out of this administration.
5
What is devastating here is this made up excuse for a president.
8
Why is this pathological liar still president? For Christ’s sake, we’re talking about loss of human lives here!!! How many more hundreds of dead before this abject President is ousted and replaced with a real human being with empathy and compassion for his fellow citizens??
4
I am in NC and do not rely on the president to protect me or my property. Unlike PR we have building codes and decent infrastructure.Trump should not be held responsible one way or the other but it seems like FEMA has improved since Katrina.
@Sean Mulligan
No one expects Trump to protect us or our property, what we have a right to expect is that OUR government and tax dollars will be prioritized to benefit the many not the few and respond adequately and quickly to catastrophe, without being offensive and ignorant. Going to a well-off neighborhood that suffered little damage to meet with his supporters and tossing paper towels to this happy lot and then referring to the governor of the Virgin Islands, who he met with on PR, as "the president of the Virgin Islands" is not reassuring. We went through a cat-5 here in the Virgin Islands. That's minimum 175 mph sustained winds with gusts over 200 and our president thought of us as a foreign land . Glad your infrastructure is good. Check it out after a category 4 or 5 and let me know how it goes!
2
If Mr. Trump is wrong about this, then the New York Times should do some investigative reporting and come up an actual list of actual people who actually died. The list would be simple: name, why the person died, and what date the person died. My bet is that Mr. Trump is a lot closer to the truth on this issue than his critics.
4
Trump is talking off the top of his head, with no evidence whatsoever.
The evidence for the death toll is from an exhaustive report compiled by experts using real data.
1
@Larry You do know that the numbers are a result of an in depth study. Tell us then how Trump came up with different numbers. What studies did he do. My bet is Donald Trump has never been close to the truth because knowing the truth requires such me type learning. The doesn’t read or listen to those that do. So I ask again where do you think Trump got this remarkable truth?
1
I wonder how it feels to be a Trump voter in the path of Hurricane Florence, knowing that however FEMA responds to your plight, the President has decided in advance that it will be the best and greatest response to a hurricane ever. No accountability. The head of FEMA knows the President will praise his efforts no matter the results, the death toll will be minimized, facts won't matter. Donald Trump's antics were amusing when he was a "reality" TV show host, but now the TV pictures will be of real people in mortal danger, real houses and towns being flooded, real lives being torn apart.
39
November 06, 2018.
7
This is disgusting even for him.
2
“completely untethered to the truth”, ‘Fear’, Bob Woodward
Not to mention ignorant, and a menace to humanity. He secretly transferred funds from FEMA’s budget ahead of a “tremendously big and tremendously wet” hurricane to ICE. Let’s add to that list, obsessed with the border and unable to comprehend the pain and suffering of others.
28
The White House adolescent continue to rant and perpetuate tirades against the truth. Instead of action like a lever, he acts like a wedge. Instead of acting like a pulley to lift this country up, he is an inclined plane diving us down. I, too, am so weary of his lack of honesty, integrity and honor. Perhaps "H" and "I" are missing from his dictionary, assuming he can read.
4
He's a PSYCHOPATH. How much more evidence do you need?
And the only possible reason Congress hasn't put him in a straitjacket and escorted him out of the White House is that they are also complicit and compromised by the same (Russian) forces that bought off Donnie going back 30 years now.
He was broke after his casinos went belly up and he owes millions if not billions of dollars to the Russian mafia, AKA Putin. How much you want to bet that 'Citizens United' opened the door to buying up Congresscritters like stuffed toys at a carnival game?
8
Heckuva job, Orangey.
5
The buck stops...there.
2
O dear god, as though he needs any help making himself look “as bad as possible”.
7
Yes, yes....it's all Donald Trump's fault.
It's amazing how he hasn't accomplished a SINGLE THING in 2 years!
Not ONE. I know that because I read it in The NY Times.
/S
2
The president's first job is to protect our citizens.
Trump failed and refuses to acknowledge he's not qualified to be President- it's ALWAYS someone else's fault in Trump's imaginary kingdom.
Register people to vote before time runs out. The midterms are upon us so don't delay! Here's a site with US voter registration deadlines:
https://www.vote.org/voter-registration-deadlines/
Here's a site to download and print a voter registration form valid in all 50 states and US Territories:
https://vote.gov/files/federal-voter-registration_1-25-16_english.pdf.
Print out a bunch and keep them with you. If you're a US Citizen you can register people on the spot!
GET TO THE POLLS!
6
Sorry, Donald, but the D’s don’t have to make you look as bad as possible. You are doing a bang-up job of that all by yourself.
11
What a depraved person.
A new low.
I hope nobody who lost a loved one in PR from cause related to the past hurricane is subjected to his hateful, lying rants.
9
sorry potus you look like such a FAKE potus without he qualifications needed for the job. You have failed in the worst possible ways. The ONLY reason you have been able to implement your dangerous agendas is due to the GOP.... elections approach and we the people will send them and you packing. the name trump is forever trash . your offspring will despise you for what you have done. Melania ...will probably vote for a democrat also
4
Absolutely disgusting, but not surprising. When will this long national nightmare finally be over?
6
What about the 2,996 people that died, and the 6,000 injured by Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda on 9/11/01?
I am totally weary of this 'newspaper' and its continued false attacks on President Trump. There were not 3000 deaths from Maria or we would have heard about it months ago. This is a contrived number from academics, not from any provable source.
90-99 percent of the people commenting here never thought TWICE about "poor" PR before Maria gave the Trump hating media an opportunity to attack him. And they'll forget about Puerto Rico as soon as it's no longer politically expedient for them. Those are the sad facts. Hypnotized liberal hypocrisy on display is what it is. Willful, blinding, hypnotized, tribal, partisan, BINARY, hypocrisy...happens on both sides of course...
reminds me of Standing Rock - ask yourself:
"when was the last time I thought about the Indians?"
and you'll get it
2
I look forward to the time when this evil buffoon Trump can be referred to in the past tense. Can’t happen soon enough for me!
5
Why doesn’t the Donald just take credit for it. He could claim that he was the president with the biggest death count from a hurricane in history. It would a beautiful, “uuuge” body count that Obama could never have had! So much bigger that that loser Bush had in Katrina.
He wouldn’t even need doctored photos to show how big it was. He could even inflate the count and no one could disagree!
6
This "article" is saturated with editorial needles, author prejudice and omission of relevant facts. It should have been posted on the opinion page, Mr. Baker, not the front page.
1
Trump "quarrels" over the last storm? To say that is to give the Trump administration far too much credit.
Thousands are dead that might have lived with a better governmental response. If someone wants to quibble about individual instances, fine. But it's no use trying to whittle ~3,000 down to some number in the teens. That's a non-starter.
And while Trump and his supporters like to point at Democrats, liberals, "haters," etc., because it's easy to attack an amorphous crowd. But the death toll in Puerto Rico is about individuals. Does the Trump administration name those claiming loss liars? It would not be the first time Trump has oh-so-bravely decided to do something like that. It would be just like his shameful "counter-punching" of Ms. Johnson, the grieving-widow of a fallen soldier. She asserted Trump spoke certain words and Trump asserted that he did not. Naturally, Trump was revealed as the liar.
Now Trump has scaled that same concept up by a few orders of magnitude. Thousands in Puerto Rico have been saying they lost loved ones because of the hurricane. Trump, through his denials, is calling them liars. But when it comes to President Trump's word versus the word of anyone else, he may as well save his breath at this point.
5
After Benedict Donald's disgusting self-serving lies about Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico (the Democrats lied, his response was great and on and on), my layman's opinion is that his mental health is in critical doubt. He has no honor, no decency, no respect for ALL American citizens, no situational understanding, no self-restraint, no sense of truth or reality - and no business holding the office he does for all the above reasons and dozens more. There are legal remedies, but those who could enforce them are instead enabling him and, in my view, are as complicit in undermining and betraying our country as Benedict Donald is.
Historic video shows that he used to be able to express complete thoughts in whole sentences (even if they were wrong). I wonder if when he finally passes on and an autopsy is performed doctors will find some physical reason, like a tumor, for his mentally unsound actions and expressions. But while that may ultimately explain his heinous behavior, it will not forgive it. Until then, our vote in November against all things trumpist is our last best hope for our nation and the world.
4
Let's don't get trapped into arguing the details of the Puerto Rico hurricane response. We could see with our own eyes it was hugely inadequate. What's important to note now is how Trump has responded to criticism of it. He has denied reality and researched facts, falsely accused Democrats, and implied conspiracy. It's inconceivable that a normal president of the U. S. would react this way. His reaction not only seems deranged but also dumb, bringing even more scorn on himself.
7
Of course, as in most things, it's all about him.
8
Donald wants an A plus and a gold star on his report card when he does what any responsible leader would've done, but wants to blame the dog for eating his homework when things don't go so well. Mattis was right about him, except this isn't even fifth grade level behavior.
10
Every time a camera is pointed at the dude he will tell a big lie or insult the most vulnerable, if he can't take your money, he will take your time or your mind and fill it with lies and insults. Trump is an ongoing interactive billboard advertising to the world why America has very far to go to fulfill its creed.
9
The federal government has responsibilities for disaster response but it has to coordinate with the States. LA Governor Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin made things worse while Mississippi's Governor worked with the feds for a more effective response. Katrina made landfall in MS and despite total destruction along the Coast, the recovery was the opposite of that in Louisiana.
NYT should NOT compare the Harvey and Maria responses.
Texas had a well-designed disaster plan to coordinate with the federal response. Puerto Rico did not.
Puerto Rico had substandard housing and a fragile electric grid before the storm. Their power company was in debt and near insolvency.
PR cancelled an effective power restoration contract in the middle of the effort.
Texas is not an island so disaster relief could be trucked in within hours. It took days and weeks to get the most basic supplies delivered by ship or airlift to PR.
Truck drivers and police in PR went on strike resulting in supplies not being distributed.
And on and on....
The Federal response to Maria was remarkably good. Puerto Rico was unprepared and their recovery continues to be plagued by financial mismanagement, poor government, graft and corruption, and politics.
3
Your assessment of the disaster response and challenges is fair enough. The initial response and recovery was destined to be difficult no matter what. In these days of political discourse by distortion, you merit mention.
The President's continual failure to do the same also merits mention as well. 3000 deaths is also a fair assessment, well within statistical standards and on the the ground investigation. Calling the report a fabrication of "the Democrats is another of over a thousand absurdities uttered by Trump over the last two years. That it continues to be given nothing more than lip service by our two legislative bodies is also a disaster - yes, difficult no matter what - that we are truly failing as a nation to properly address. It is hard for me to imagine that this should be allowed to continue, only because of Republican desires to force an agenda at essentially any cost. How much longer should we suffer this walking personality disorder? And at what cost?
3
Puerto Ricans:
As a New Yorker, please accept my apology for the words and lack of action from this Five-Deferment Bankrupter from Queens.
And Please VOTE against him. As citizens, it's your right.
17
Chris Matthews was wondering if Trump is incapable of knowing the truth or incapable of telling the truth; if you put Trump under a truth serum, would Trump say that 18 died or closer to 3000?
Here’s the fact: put Trump on a truth serum and ask him, “how many died in Puerto Rico?” And his truthful answer would be, “I haven’t given it a thought because I don’t care.” The only important thing to Trump is escaping responsibility and buffing his image: 3 die or 3000, as long as he isn’t affected personally, is the same to him. He’d trade a situation where one American
died and he was blamed, for a situation where 3000 died and he wasn’t. We don’t count, literally, compared to his ego. That’s the man that was inexplicably given the duty to protect us. Good luck folks.
18
Failure as a businessman, failure as a politician, despicable as a human being.
33
I am facing the fact that I am totally weary of this man and his endless psychological issues.
Most decent people live by a code of honor that is a part of how they live and how they behave. Mr. Trump's code seems to be one of striking out to anyone who questions his job performance. These days THAT is his full time job.
People died. Instead of figuring out how to make the system better next time, his obsession to vilify the numbers becomes a spectacle of how weak, self-involved and nasty he is.
America, we have a real problem here. HIs challenged abilities of leadership place us all at risk.
94
When one man can take the entire country out of a global agreement to TRY to do something about climate change, and make places like North Korea and Syria look sane, we are in a hurricane of our own. We know that we are not in the ice age of 10,000 years ago, and we know there have always been hurricanes, but when there is scientific agreement that man has made global warming rate increase and that warmer water makes hurricanes more likely, more frequent, and more dangerous, yet ONE man can reject all this and have the country and many countries pay a price for his ignorance and peeves, it is a disaster of our making through the polls. It is a disaster from (north) Pole to (south) Pole from someone who might be bipolar in his own way.
10
Alas, I simply ignore anything and everything this president does and says and pray that the electorate will begin sweeping his political party into the dustbin of history starting in November. How about a two party system consisting of Democrats as the new conservative party and Democratic Socialists as the liberal party?
14
good idea, even better a three part system because it forces all parties to come together and compromise for the greater good.
Say Trump was right, and there were "6 to 18" deaths. Why does he act like that's inconsequential? His statement seemed to convey the idea that 6 to 18 dead people was nothing to be concerned about, and by the way, I'm great and I handed out paper towels, and where's the praise I deserve? I am so sick of the "all about me" president.
Trump is his own worst enemy. He doesn't need the Democrats, or Bob Woodward, or the "liberal" press to make him look bad. And, his words aren't taken out of context--they are there for everyone to read in his tweets or to listen to in his press conference and interviews. He manages to make himself look bad all by himself every chance he gets every day. All his bad press is brought on by his own ignorance and arrogance and ego.
24
The last hurricane was a tragic one and definitely was handled poorly. But using this larger hurricane to attack trump isn’t what people should be talking about right now. The discussion simple need to be about safety precautions and what people can do to prepare. If trump botches this one too then yes go after him, but priorities need to be kept straight in times of emergency like this one
No one WAS talking about it - until he brought it up. When he speaks (read: lies), people need to respond, so the truth will out.
8
Havng been through hurricane Maria as a Cat 5 here on St Croix, USVI (minimum wind strength175 mph sustained for full minutes with gusts over 20O), only days after another Cat 5 did intense damage on St Thomas and St John, I'm happy to see people making comments about Trump's destructive presence at the helm of our country. He has brought his own storm upon our land and his judgments in response to these storms is terrible and his denial of climate change as a hoax by the Chinese NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED RIGHT NOW while the national attention is on these storms. Thank you, folks!!!
3
Just wondering. Do we extrapolate the numbers out for months following every hurricane? If not, why did we in this instance?
3
Because, in general, after mainland hurricanes power and water are restored in days or at worst weeks... not months. Remember that trump’s FEMA proclaimed that everything was hunky dory and they were going home while hundreds of thousands were w/o those things.
People were dying of things related to the storm damage. Thus they are counted as having died as a result of the storm.
3
The same methodology used in Puerto Rico is the one that was used to calculate the final death toll for Katrina. The difference is we did not have a Whiner in Chief then.
7
You can look at the GW report itself, but i believe the point is that you count deaths that resulted from the weather event, regardless of when those deaths occur.
3
It’s all about you. All the time. We get it, sir; you never make a mistake. You’re the best there ever is or was. We are to believe you, and not the media nor our lyin’ eyes, no matter what. You are the world without end, amen, and if we dare doubt it, we are to only ask you.
We won’t take the word of those whose relatives died because of lack of proper sanitation, or because their oxygen machines quit because the power went out and was never restored. We won’t trust those who have not seen their loved ones since the storm hit, nor those who may still die from storm-related causes. Because....you say so.
Happy now, sir? Your ego is all that apparently matters; empathy, leadership, and a moral compass are just bothersome distractions. Again — we get it.
22
When a trump* supporter tells you that they can ignore his lack of character because he’s doing other things they do like, remind them that it is during crises, ie, unexpected events, when character is critical. trump* fails every time.
18
And as usual, on a day when there are more than enough other things in the news to hold our attention, we're talking about Trump. Don't you think that's exactly what he had in mind when he issued this stupid statement? He has to be the center of attention.
9
What a whining, sniveling, tantrum-throwing spoiled brat of an adult. I was sick of his behavior before the election
26
Let's just stop and consider the core of this most recent tweet: This despicable lout thinks that someone would jigger statistics of people's deaths in a natural disaster *to make him look bad*. Can we agree that such an abjectly self-absorbed and selfish mindset proves (if we needed any more proof) that we are governed by an emotionally stunted, witless boor?
24
If the numbers are for him, they're big... really big... so big
If the numbers are against him (and somehow counting the unfortunate victims of a natural disaster mean it's against him), then the numbers are small... so small... too small to count
15
Until we address climate change, we are like dogs chasing our tails.
16
It's hard to believe that not even all those rolls of paper towels that our Only President so courageously threw to those people could prevent this tragedy. It is overwhelming.
19
@Marty
It looked like he was throwing basketballs in the video, making it a game. He stayed fifteen minutes, got some photo ops, threw some paper towels, which to him was like throwing peanuts to Giraffes at the zoo, and left. He is a germaphobe, so he did not want to get too close to those suffering people.
2
The Democrats do not have to work to make this President look bad. He does a fine job of that all by himself as soon as facts and the truth are known.
20
What a despicable man-child.
21
It’s sad to watch an angry bitter COA ( Child of an Alcoholic) thrash about like this. What a sad , un-well person runs this country.
16
Democrats “rigged” the hurricane fatality numbers to discredit the president? That’s a very serious charge. So why hasn’t the president called for a congressional investigation into the incident? He would get unanimous support from the Democrats. Zero from Republicans.
24
The current administration shows so little concern about our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico - a lack of concern that perhaps some of us have displayed, whether intentionally or not. The collective response has demonstrated that racism is alive and well.
13
Witnessing Trump's total lack of moral authority is exhausting.
26
The Buck Stops Anywhere But Here, eh?
21
So sick of NYT journalists like Peter Baker writing an 'objective' piece about Trump: e.g. look at this: "even accusing opponents of inventing a death toll “to make me look as bad as possible.” Every paragraph is packed full of invective. For someone who criticizes Fox News, Baker relies on the NYT and CNN which are much worse. There were 16-20 deaths as a DIRECT result of Maria; there were upwards of 3000 INDIRECT deaths because of the lousy infrastructure on the island. Period. What, are we going to blame Trump for this new Hurricane Florence now!
3
The indirect deaths are the result of the federal government’s inadequate action, response and support
Much too little, much too late
8
@Labete-- You do not know what the deaths were due to. That is not what the researchers found. And yet, everyone is to believe YOU?
Trump is objectively failing to adhere to even the most basic of decency and competency standards. Think it’s great when Trump “tells it like it is”, so you should love it when journalists are truthful!
6
He has been disgracefully shedding all corporate and community responsibility for the island's sufferings in the after math of its storm. Unvelievable.
12
Mr Trump is "accusing opponents of inventing a death toll “to make me look as bad as possible.” "
Mr Trump, you do a magnificent job on your own of showing us the fool you are . No need for help from political opponents.
34
Unbelievable and beyond shameful, yet totally predictable, he would yet again capitalize on people's grief and suffering to politicize and extol his self-proclaimed heroic actions when, in an epic Trump moment, he tossed rolls of paper towels to the desperate in Puerto Rico. No doubt POTUS will probably show up somewhere in North Carolina where he can waddle off the golf course with his trademark little red cap, proclaiming this is the greatest response, no comparison, to any natural disaster in the history of the country. And at some point he will most likely once again disparage those unappreciative lying Democrats and the mayor of Puerto Rico who tried to make him look bad.
19
When will it end? How much more can we take from this vile, narcissistic “human being”, void of morality and completely incapable of empathy or compassion? With every inappropriate tweet and utterance from his mouth, this country sinks a bit lower. Please let this nightmare be over soon.
20
It will end when Democrats take the house and Senate this November and a Democrat wins in 2020. Until then, besides voting, volunteer to reach out to people in red and purple states. Sadly not until the Electoral College is abolished, the fate of our country rests in the hands of a very undeserving minority, the minority that gave us Trump.
4
In my opinion, the fact that someone dies months after the hurricane itself, due to lack of drinkable water; services; or electricity, makes that death even more of this administration’s fault.
32
The Presidential response to the higher number of deaths can be dismissed. As Christopher Hitchens remarked:
"What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence". With the addendum that this assertion is a high crime given that it is false and lacking governmental empathy to its citizens. Moreover it is time for Donald Trump to resign.
15
@Donald Green Not yet-soon.
Until the same methodology as used in Puerto Rico is applied to other similar disasters the number of deaths is meaningless as a comparison.
3
Please explain.
7
@ndbza--How do you know their methodology? Have you read the study? Or are you just a Russian or a Trump bot desperate to rehabilitate his image?
The fact is, you do NOT know.
12
I dislike labeling Americans as Republicans and Democrats because it has the capacity to immediately divide us into separate camps and ignores the diversity in both groups. However, one cannot ignore the fact that Republicans chose Donald Trump as the spokesperson for their party, and thought it appropriate that he be the spokesperson for the nation.
11
The misspellings are on purpose. I beleive his next tweet will be "The fake news didn't report the 1,000's of Moslims on the rooftops in Jersey City that were cheering when the hurricane was over Porto Rico killing all those people. Imagine if all those Porto Ricans were American citiizens. Witch Hunt."
11
This isn’t relevant news, it’s drama. Trump wants to underestimate the number of deaths an of course the Left and the Times wouldn’t mind if the number gets inflated only to paint the narrative. Let’s move on to current issues.
2
@Midwest Josh--The Left and the Times are NOT doing anything but reporting on the University's research.
17
We can actually concentrate on more than one story at a time. Let’s not move on from 3000 preventable US deaths so the disgusting man in charge can avoid responsibility yet again and get away with lying.
8
When the "President" disgracefully lies about the death toll in a major natural disaster in our country that his administration had a responsibility to address, it IS a current issue.
4
What’s missing from Donald Trump is not just empathy. It is a lack of self-awareness that would allow him to realize just how badly others see him and then to actually have some shame about it.
26
Don’t die in hurricane Florence, for you will be uncounted unless your death makes the president look good.
34
To understand what Trump would and no doubt has done to others in his life, we need look no further than what he accuses others of doing to him, no matter how outrageous.
20
Mr Trump can expect the significant Puerto Rican population of Florida to remember him when they vote in the mid-terms. Bring it on Trump.
23
I’ve noticed a lot of people attempting to explain Trump’s behavior as an outgrowth of his personal insecurities, as a neurotic reaction. I was in an academic talk the other day where a respondent listed off all his oddities and did a hack psychoanalysis, and an audience member reveled in describing his infantilism. In the impulse to do this, I suspect many have decided to just call him mentally ill or deficient.
Whether he is or not, the point about these numbers is not that they are denied by a single and, it might be reasonably argued, clearly neurotic man—but that the denial of fact is a strategy of power and control that has been employed by, among other organizations, the Republican Party for the last several decades. The denial of death tolls routinely occurs during war, and no party is innocent of it. What is the classification of inconvenient but highly politicized documents about government actions but the blanket “denial” of facts that ought by right to be public?
Trump is only unique in style and frequency—meaning, the willingness he is to do this with things trivial and non-trivial alike. But to invoke hack psychology here is exactly to make relevant that which, in politics, is distracting. If his psychology is relevant at all, it’s why it’s attractive to his followers, and why so many Americans voted for someone so unhinged.
10
Donald Trump's first response, in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11th terrorist attack on New York, was to compliment himself on being the owner of what was now the "tallest building in downtown Manhattan!". That's how the incalculable damage and massive loss of life resonated with Mr. Trump. Processed, of course, through the only lens that Donald Trump ever uses to processes anything - which is in terms of how it affects him, and how it can be used to serve his interests. Just as any sociopath would. And, of course, what he said was an outright lie.
The greater the disaster, the greater the human suffering, the greater the opportunity Donald Trump sees for polishing his own apple with whatever lies seem the most appropriate.
It's reported that 3,000 Puerto Ricans were killed as a result of Hurricane Maria. So, what does Donald Trump do? He declares the truth, "a lie", makes up some more lies about how this is all part of a conspiracy by the Democrats to make him look bad, and then congratulates himself on the, "best job that's ever been done" there.
The pattern is always the same: call the truth a lie, call a lie the truth, and then take credit where none is due.
Just imagine the accolades Trump will shower on himself after he launches a few nukes at North Korea, fabricates a series of lies about why they were launched, and then blames everyone but himself for the fallout of his own actions?
Nobody turns lies and misery into self-congratulation like Donald Trump.
44
Trump is unable to show empathy and compassion for people who died due to his incompetence and negligence.
He can't admit that his response to hurricane Maria was inadequate. He's a sociopath and a narcissist who will always put himself first over the American people he's been given the responsibility to protect and defend.
He's a disgrace to the presidency and this country.
33
Is there any reason to repeat what has been expressed by so many? Maybe not, but, then again, why not say again and again that the man is shameless and heartless and cruel and just plain despicable. And how much longer can we endure this without finally reaching the same level of madness. How his supporters and his party can withstand all these obvious lies is the real mystery.
19
Trump thinks that we do not know he is lying. That’s how delusional the man is. He thinks that no matter what words come out of his mouth we will believe it. He lied his way through his campaign so he thinks that he can continue to behave this way and get away with it with nary a consequence. Can we all just admit that this man with no empathy, no conscience, no caring for other humans (except perhaps Ivanka) is a big mistake? What am I missing here? How much denial does it take to continue back this sick man? Lord help the people in the path of this storm. Trump will be angrily tweeting away, while more US citizens die.
18
Incredible.
I cannot wait until we have a well spoken, competent, reasonable President again. Ugh
He is a daily embarrassment to this country.
18
The Democrats and the liberal press will try to turn even human suffering into a political opportunity. Even the winds are a convenient pretext. In terms of its lack of preparation, poor electrical grid, bankruptcy, and corruption, Puerto Rico was and is a disaster waiting to happen. It’s an island in the middle of the seasonal hurricane paths, but it didn’t and still does not have the proper systems and procedures in place to protect its population in the event of an emergency. BTW it’s Democrat-run, but by all means let’s try to make the whole island an ongoing Katrina and a permanent excuse for dumping on Trump.
3
Puerto Rico had not had a hurricane like this for a century.
You can dump on the island's corrupt governor and lack of preparation, but it is FEMA's job to aid all Americans in cases of natural disasters.
Excuses are not a substitute for action. Trump is an arrogrant, living excuse.
15
Puerto Rico is 35 miles (NS) by 100 miles (EW), 3500 square miles. Much of it is hilly and remote. Cat 5 Maria, here on St Croix, USVI, meant most poles were damaged or down. Maximum sustained winds (that's constant minimum strength per minute) on STX were 175 mph with gusts over 200 mph. (Florence by comparison is 100 mph). Maria was 155 mph sustained winds as it crossed Puerto Rico. A runaway train destroying an island with the size & terrain I've described?
I can tell you, downed trees, poles and parts of buildings, fences and whatever, meant hospitals, nursing homes, towns & homes were isolated- sometimes for weeks. The storm was followed by a period of intense heat, heavy rain & mudslides in Puerto Rico. Some areas were isolated for months and received no electrical power until recently.
The initial death toll in Puerto Rican of 64 was only those with immediate and direct result of the wind and rain. It didn't include all those who died as a direct result of the conditions described above. If only 3,000 people died in the devastation of Puerto Rico's 3,500 square miles, I'd be surprised.
There's no reason why more equipment & personnel couldn't have been available. A budget spent mitigating catastrophes or a tax cut for the rich? The callous disregard & ignorance of Donald Trump are inexcusable. (When he met on PR with our governor, he later said that he'd met with our president! Sorta says it all.) We make excuses for him at our peril. People unnecessarily died!
22
@kfm--One thing that continues to bother me is that he sent the hospital ship Comfort there (after Hillary Clinton talked about it, but it stayed off shore and unavailable for 2 weeks.
http://www.newser.com/story/250192/off-puerto-rico-a-floating-hospital-b...
5
thank you for your insight. refreshing to read a measured factual essay.
2
Disgusting, disgraceful, and disrespectful. Can anyone who still identifies as part of "the base" explain why this man should not be impeached, or just kicked to the curb? 3000 people died in Puerto Rico. Why has Trump decided to refute this fact today, as another hurricane is threatening American citizens? Having recently moved considerable money from FEMA to ICE, is he now so proud of himself that he can taunt his detractors by mocking the deaths of fellow Americans (yes, people living on "that island" are US citizens!) ? Again, he is disgusting, disgraceful, and disrespectful.
20
The American citizens in Puerto Rico don't matter to Trump's base. Puerto Ricans' official language is Spanish and they are Hispanic. To Trump's base, only American citizens of European descent matter and only those who are Christians. Sort of like, say, Norwegians.
3
Every year people die in Puerto Rico, regardless of the weather. Every year then there should be a memorial for them and if personal blame can be laid on Trump for them so much the better.
1
The death toll of a natural disaster is not the same as annual or monthly death rates. We have not had a hurricane affect our island so much as Hurricane Maria did IN CLOSE TO 100 years. The flooding, loss of power, lack of fuel, impassable roads, broken bridges, inoperable hospital and health care facilities, lack of water, lack of food and postal service were unprecedented. If you had not purchased canned food, had no power generator at home, as well as a water cistern, and a gas stove, you could not survive. Imagine a poor person on dialysis, access to care was practically zero for over a month. Please don’t give your opinion if you don’t know what you are talking about, just because you support President Trump. This is not about him, it is about the people who died and how to prevent future deaths when a natural disaster hits the US.
22
Mr President, it is not necessary to inflate numbers to make you look bad.
19
Why does this man continue to be tolerated by the electorate and by the government? No one else could ever get away with the untrue statements he makes daily. It is shameful.
15
Democrats don't have to do anything to make Trump look worse than he is. It's not possible. Even the death of 3000 people won't stop his raging narcissism. Nothing but a Democratic Congress and Senate stop the bleeding.
17
Trump hates for the news not to be about him. Could it be he made this disgracefully dishonest statement in a desperate effort to steer the news away from hurricane Florence and back to him?
8
Every time I think Trump couldn't possibly become more contemptible, he does something to become more contemptible. This accusation that the Democrats inflated the death toll to make him "look as bad as possible" is ridiculous. He looks "as bad as possible" without any help from anyone.
15
When are we going to get sick of hearing about this man? Trump's alternative world view has grown tiring. Trump has no ability to even act like he has empathy for any one except himself.If he could blame Obama for this he certainly would. Trump proves that wealth does not go hand in hand with Class. Trump totally lacks Class or Dignity. Insulting the families on Puerto Rico who lost loved ones due to the incompetence of his administration is tasteless.
7
@Steven McCain
Not to be a nag, but one cannot have empathy for oneself. Empathy is the ability to understand another. Just clarifying that use of the word.
3
I hope that FEMA has arranged for an adequate supply of paper towels to be pre-positioned for President Trump's use on his visit to the Carolinas after the storm!
Imagine the flap, if he arrives to throw a few rolls out to his avid base and none are available!
12
As usual, it doesn't matter if it's true or not, he said it and now 1/3 of America believes it.
7
If Trump, his family, or friends have any real estate holdings in the areas to be affected, you can bet they will be put at the top of the list for disaster aid!
7
Why do people read Trump's tweets? Who has the time for that?
2
As long as his tweets are considered official government policy, the news has to read them.
1
Unbiased credible sources tell us thousands needlessly died because of the botched feckless response by this White House. These are competent sources who have taken into account all of the obvious adjustments, including, for instance, the normal baseline death rates. Moreover, the White House response was clearly predicated on their racism. They believe brown Americans are not real Americans. They believe brown Americans are lazy and unpatriotic, and do not deserve federal help. This is criminal incompetence, and a violation of the civil rights of Puerto Ricans. The president's indecent and heartless falsehoods today are more of the same. The Americans in Puerto Rico deserve the same respect as the Americans in Houston, Miami, and the Carolinas. Once we vote in a Constitutional Congress and a decent, competent White House, this must be properly investigated.
9
How is Trump still allowed to have a Twitter account? All he does is spread lies, retweet racists, and make vague and actual threats to blow up entire nations. What part of what he does isn’t a violation of their terms of service?
12
@Vin Hill
Twitter put in place a special rule that applies only to the president. He alone is permitted to freely violate their terms of service. Horrible but true.
This is not how a leader behaves.
14
Denial and rejection of a natural disaster death toll? My goodness, not even the finality of death, or respect for dead Americans is beyond the lies of President Trump. Ecclesiastes 12: 1-8
9
Every American citizen who fled Puerto Rico for the mainland after Hurricane Maria should register to vote in their new communities. On November 6, vote. In rememberance of what happened, and those who suffered. Vote.
10
Don't forget this is the guy whose DHS transferred 39 million from The Coast Guard ( who saved hundreds, if not thousands of lives in past hurricanes) and FEMA ( the agency charged with recovery after hurricanes) To ICE for building detention camps.
The cruelty and lack of empathy of this guy is endless. SADLY.
156
Pathetic. Numbers of victims of Maria only made up to make Trump look bad? If John McCain had really died, he would have been at the funeral. Just another plot to make him look bad? Puerto Rican high wind damage that essentially closed the island really caused by vandals?
Republican Congressmen and Senators may think they are doing Trump and themselves a favor by not impeaching him. They are not. Trump is obviously suffering, he's paranoid and delusional. He's like a sick animal who growls and threatens when reality comes too close. His favorable poll numbers are dropping while he needs constant reassurance. The more they are going to drop - and they will - the more bizarre he will become.
It's not fair to Trump and certainly not to the American people to keep him in office. President of the United States is not an office for an insecure or mentally unbalanced person. Strong men feel the significant stress. Leaving this "stable genius" in a situation that will only make him more ill, possibly put troops in harm needlessly or do significant damage to U.S. citizens is not a wise move. Consider the constantly growing number of immigrant children removed from their families. Why punish these people. If they can't come in, just turn them back, grabbing their children and keeping them indefinitely is absurd and inhumane. That in itself is a strong sign of Trump's instability. How much more do we need to endure just so wealthy people can have even more money?
15
"The missing part was empathy," Thomas Bossert said of the president's statements. Of course it was missing -- a narcissistic sociopath is incapable of feeling empathy. Some, however, are capable of admitting error in order to provide themselves cover; Trump can't even do this. Ever. And the Republicans who silently tolerate such behavior are morally bankrupt and ethically corrupt.
13
Once again, Trump has proven he is not fit to be a US President, and acts more like the village idiot with his continuous lies and disparities of others. Trump deserves to be treated no better than he treats others.
11
The tragedy of Puerto Rico is having a president whose empathy, understanding, concern and helpfulness was lacking in every way that they needed help.
No rolls of paper towels will ever wipe this off the history books.
11
"He argued that the link between some of the fatalities reported and the storm might have been 'correlative, and not necessarily causal,' such as the case of a person with a heart condition who died months later because of lack of sufficient access to clean water, electricity or medical care." Wha? That IS a causative correlation.
11
A major hurricane hit two American locales with a very poor population and an ineffective local government; New Orleans and Puerto Rico. Both under Republican administrations. In each case the Federal Government took significant criticism, much of it deserved, some of it not. Please contrast the reaction of the two Republican Presidents. One, stoic but resolute and with dignity. Two, insane, narcissistic, lame and spineless.
14
Bush's reaction to Katrina was not laudable.
He and FEMA failed miserably.
"While this was a scientific extrapolation rather than a list of specific names with specific causes, the Puerto Rican government accepted the estimate, as did lawmakers from both parties." Trump is right. Where are the names? Where are they buried? When and how did they die. It's voodoo with numbers meant to make him look bad.
4
The report is publicly available and easy to read.
It was not a wild guess. Extrapolating from available data has proven to be an accurate method of analysis.
The report was produced by experts with a long history of experience in demographics and other related fields.
3
@SkyBird---Why don't you read the university's research. It's published. And, no, he isn't right.
3
Trump daily has come up with daily lies and this is just another one. He should be arrested for taking 10 million out of FEEMA funds which will help a lot of people and now won't be there for them. He used it for his sick immigration nonsense. He needs to be replaced as he broke congress and I know he is going to insult the victims and town officials in NC. Very sad this is the best the GOP had to offer. No morals but plenty of lies.
9
Poor President Victim. Ever notice that everything revolves around him and it’s always a conspiracy. Sadly a quick look at local Social media comments show that the MAGA’s believe him still.
9
It is getting quite tiresome to read another explanation of Donald Trump's behavior wrapped in euphemistic niceties: "Rewriting the playbook on________________." The fact that his behavior is spoken of as some kind of game (hence playbook), undercuts the atrocity of what is taking place: A complete denial of the tragedy that befell residents of Puerto Rico.
From now on, please call his behavior what it is:
A degenerate's, malevolent tirade- lack of common decency with the all-too recognizable racist undertones.
This man is absolutely wicked, and no tidying-up the description will hide the obvious.
23
Trump is right about one thing. He looks bad.
16
The "extra" thousands are the ones who died for lack of response by FEMA - lepto, injuries, infections - all untreated. Amazing that it was "only" 3000 or so.
8
Harvard study puts the number above 4000
3
For all the mad scientists out there, any chance we can tailor make a hurricane to hit Trump and follow him around for a few days? maybe then he will appreciate what these disasters do to people. It is his dismissal of people's lives that really bites.
Bite him back in November.
6
We cannot deny the intertwining of trump lies with his fanatic followers for all the unbelievable denial of truth nowadays. They both feed each other's dynamics which the new Republicans fan just to hang-on for power. A parasitic symbiosis that will continue with no end in site, even with the point blank reality of/or Mueller's verdict. God help America or what's left of it after these twin moral hurricanes passed.
7
@fmsyoga: Let's not join in "unbelievable denial of truth." It's undeniable that the rich are getting richer, largely as a result of tax "reform;" that Christian extremists and Vatican loyalists are getting an anti-Roe SCOTUS; and that the GOP are getting a business-friendly and religion-friendly judiciary at all levels.
3
@Des Johnson--You make it sound so bad! But, hey, we're getting fouled air, soiled water, no infrastructure repair, and even thousands of part time jobs with no health insurance! It's all good, doncha know.
Two posters advise the press not to address the trump failings. They say, "you never learn". Not sure what that means, but I am sure how to answer them:
"The press MUST address these failings because, according to the legal dictum: "Silence gives consent."
9
The man who says Dems politicize mass shootings unnecessarily just chose to score political points by politicizing the deaths of 3,000 citizens. Then he goes further to essentially say his own government's tallies are part of a larger conspiracy by Dems to inflate an otherwise small death toll. Trump is a despicable human being for lying like he does. He has no place speaking these words from the bully pulpit of the presidency.
10
trump trampled decency and decorum today; he proved his contempt for life, for love and for family in heaping new pain on those who mourn the dead of Puerto Rico. He is the most venal and incompetent person ever to have held Office, and it is long past time for Congress to end this presidency.
10
Just go back and re-read those two tweets (about the 3000 deaths in Puerto Rico) that Trump spewed this morning. Those tweets say it all. Now, imagine that you are related to any of those fatalities. (And yes, this may be news to some folks: they were American citizens!) How would you feel, reading his disrespectful cracks? Makes me sick!
8
What exactly is the death toll of Katrina using the same methodology? https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/we-still-dont-know-how-many-people-...
1
Trump doesn’t need the Democrats (or anyone else for that matter) to make him look bad. He’s pretty adept at doing it himself
7
I find this frightening: he refuses to see anything that detracts from the story he tells himself about himself. That is psychotic by any definition. Most likely, this will lead to some kind of catastrophe that even his supporters will notice, though like the GOP they may refuse to understand who is responsible. We live in perilous times. Maybe Michael Moore is right: Trump my be our last president.
6
Looks like Trump has taken over from Alex Jones.
So it might be a good idea to get a few of the relatives of those 3,000 that died in Puerto Rice, those that Trump insists that did not die, to got to Washington DC and make a public statement?
After all, if some 3,000 people dies, they should have a few thousand relatives that grieve.
So it't will be a very strong signal if a few hundred of them would come to DC and state their existence.
If Trump won't accept reality does not mean that at least some of his followers might reconsider.
4
Trump doesn't need the Democrats to "make him look as bad as possible". He's doing a pretty good job of it all by himself.
13
I agree with posters' criticism of Trump.
But that will not decrease Trump's support from his base.
They want their economic status restored.
That is all that matters.
The Dems must devise and support programs to help restore this status.
HRC did not do this.
Such programs exist but HRC being an economic conservative did not propose them.
She called his base "deplorables" and had no program except train for new jobs that paid a fraction of their previous job.
Is there any surprise that the "deplorables" [WHO VOTE] voted for Trump who made promises he can not keep.
Puerto Rico does NOT vote in the presidential election.
Given his values [or lack thereof] why should Trump care about Puerto Rico.
1
You're wrong that Hillary did not propose any economic programs. They were on her website AND she talked about them.
4
Hillary proposed programs but the programs she proposed would NOT provide new jobs that paid a wage EQUAL to the wage of the lost job.
For example she told laid off coal miners to become call center operators at a fraction of their previous wage.
@david Do you know of any 'new jobs' that pay the same wages as the out of work coal miners had? They are still not working in the coal mines. To make more money people looking for jobs will need to train for higher-paid jobs.
Sec. Clinton was right. We are not creating new jobs that pay well without education.
Benghazi:
4 deaths, 10 hearings
Hurricane Maria:
2,975 deaths, 0 hearings
Republicans are corrupt.
Vote Republicans out of office.
Vote for Democrats in 2018 and beyond.
58
@V
Thanks for noting this. After Katrina with a thousand fewer deaths than Maria, there was a bipartisan investigation in Congress about the preparation for the hurricane and the response that included 9 hearings and many interviews and other actions.
Where is Congress now? It isn't just Trump's denial. There is a deafening silence from GOP lawmakers who also have quietly authorized the massive transfer of taxpayer money (close to $200 million with $10 million from ICE and more from the Coast Guard and various other departments) to detention and deportation of immigrants. Both the response to Hurricane Maria and the ICE overfunding target Hispanics, including thousands of Americans. At what point does this become ethnic cleansing?
6
The deaths were mostly because of a insanely inadequate federal response. They are on Trump. They're from lack of electricity for a year, lack of water, lack of medical supplies, so on and so forth. It's unbelievable that he wants to deny the deaths he is most responsible for.
A proper federal response as is done in any other state, by any other President, would have prevented many deaths.
10
What a travesty for Puerto Rico. I have visited the beautiful island of Puerto Rico and am fortunate to have many friends and acquaintances from there. Several people have fled to the mainland US and now reside in my city as a result of Hurricane Maria. I truly believe that the study conducted by GWU is accurate. As of August 2018, many people are still without clean water and safe shelter and I am praying each day for their well-being. Let's hope FEMA starts organizing better than they have been. It's obvious that Trump is a narcissist. Hopefully his self-congratulatory, mercurial rhetoric will only continue to upend norms until 2020, as David Brooks expressed last week on the PBS Newshour.
9
of course, it would never occur to DT that a death toll of less than a hundred would be incredibly low. The fact that only 3000 died speaks well of the Puerto Rican people.
8
There is a bit of ignorance in the comments and as former public health professional, I would like address them. I was not trained as an epidemiologist, however, the methodology the researchers used is the standard to measure excess mortality attributed to a public health related event. In this case it’s actually quite straightforward because there were no evacuees during the event. Ergo the researchers had a starting population to base their initial calculation. They use that to calculate the excess mortality of the past year (verified by death certificates and records etc) by comparing what happened last year to many years of death in the preceding years. The number they came up with represents an estimate that their statistical models would define as falling in the range of 95% predicted probability. That is, that running the model 100 times would result in the excess mortally estimate falling within that range with 95% certainty. I believe the range was between 2658 and 3290. Meaning that they can say with 95% confidence that the excess deaths fell within that range. Note the relatively narrow range meaning that the midpoint is highly likely to be accurate.
A 1st or 2nd year MPH student could probably explain it more succinctly than I and I invite them and other pros to comment.
The upshot is that this President’s comments are well within the range of narcissism, fraud, moral depravity, and malignant incompetence.
Diego Castaneda DrPH
19
@Diego Exactly:
"this President’s comments are well within the range of narcissism, fraud, moral depravity, and malignant incompetence."
8
@Diego. Thank you for your very sensible and informative comment.
7
Your first paragraph was accurate and well written. The follow-up question is: for what other storms has this same methodology been used? If it hasn't been used before, then why was it used this time?
2
Is it possible to compare the percent increase in deaths after hurricane Maria to the increase in deaths after other storms like Harvey? Regardless of how numbers are presented I think this articles basis still holds true; a President should put the people over his reputation. I like the thought of putting emphasis on why Trump cares about the number, and not “is it the right number?”. We need compassion in times of crisis and the American people aren’t getting it.
On another note it must be really hard to write factual articles on a president who is rarely truthful and not come across as biased. I think some people should keep that in mind. This article is telling the truth and examining Trumps motives for disputing accepted facts. It’s journalism.
10
“The missing part was empathy...” The depths to which this is true is the same reason that any viable action plans to improve emergency service delivery will not come to fruition. Thousands of key positions in this government remain unfilled; those who remain are hobbled in their efforts by lack of staff and a systematic lack of planning excellence from political hires. Millions of bottles of water left in the heat and sunlight of a PR runway for months are utterly spoiled and unusable slag to be bulldozed away as thousands went without potable water for months. These people paid the price in blood of election meddling, just as thousands of US and Iraqi people did for the Supreme Court's decision in Bush v Gore. Can we afford such a fool when our climate bill comes due? I don't think so.
11
For those questioning the numbers. Just because you are unable to understand the math and the demographics doesn’t mean they are wrong but means you need to work on your knowledge.
How’s this for a test? Let’s have the government respond to the aftermath of hurricane Florence to in the same way they responded to Maria. In other words, do nothing. And then let’s talk about deaths and counts. And let’s see how many SC and NC mayors respond as San Juan mayor Cruz has for a year.
11
In the mind of Trump and his supporters Puerto Rico is not part of the United States. For that reason alone, he is getting away with that kind of statements. If that happens in Carolinas or Texas, he would exaggerate the number and blames the Democrats for inadequate funding. It doesn’t matter what the truth is, his supporters just like him is not interested in facts. His supporters probably didn’t make it to the fifth grade.
11
Here is how disturbing Trump's tweets are about the death toll in Puerto Rico: Approximately 3,000 people have been confirmed as having died as a result of Puerto Rico's hurricane. That is approximately equal to the number of people killed in the World Trade Towers on 9/11. So, he can blithely dismiss the same number of Americans killed in Puerto Rico when many of those deaths were preventable, caused by sheer negligence and inaction, but makes no connection in his mind to the fact that this is the same number of Americans we mourned so deeply on 9/11 who were killed by terrorists? Obviously he considers people who live on the island of Manhattan to be more important than those who live on the island of Puerto Rico. Shameful.
19
I sincerely hope my fellow citizens in the Carolinas suffer no harm. But I know that is highly unlikely.
Of those who will need the assistance of their fellow citizens to survive and get back on their feet, I just ask you take a moment to reflect on giving your electoral college votes to Trump in 2016.
7
Instead of expressing honest compassion for the victims' families and saying a prayer for the dead, Trump plays to his base and lies that the numbers supposedly were somehow manufactured by Democrats.
And when the original, much smaller, number of dead was announced, he was ecstatic, not because it looked like there were fewer dead, but because he could brag that, under his leadership and quick actions, many people were saved.
This is the president of the United States? His actions are shameful. And proving that he couldn't care less about the scope of the disaster, now FEMA has cut off housing funds for 987 Puerto Rican families who fled Hurricane Maria.
Also consider what he did for Puerto Rico at the time: Tossing paper towels, which was essentially making fun of those left devastated by the tragedy.
23
Trump only cares about Trump.
He lies as he breathes, our cowardly bully in chief.
His vanity is more important than thousands of people's lives and livelihoods.
Time to wake up, Trumpians. He's no good for anyone, including you.
7
This is obsessive but: looking at the tweets. the President who never makes mistakes also tells the world that he raised "Billions of Dollars" ( his caps) to rebuild Puerto Rico. I don't think so, Mr Trump: I don't think using government funds that come from taxpayers ( a reminder: where are those tax forms?) is considered raising money. More lies.
38
In order to prevent deaths like these in future hurricanes, we need to know what caused them, not just an estimate of the total number. Were they diabetics who could not get insulin? Did other essential pharmaceuticals become unavailable? Inability to get to medical care for acute illness? For chronic illness? Lack of air conditioning for the frail? Infectious disease from contaminated water? Psychological effects of disrupted lives?
81
@Jonathan Katz-Accepting the science and facts supporting global warming would help. Especially as more hurricanes will surely come and millions of Americans will be affected.
9
@Jonathan Katz all of the above.
2
@Jonathan Katz What makes you think the researchers do not know what caused the deaths? You cannot make a determination one way or the other from this article.
Go find the study and read it.
I watched a few interviews with the Puerto Rico governor and he was not able to provide the exact number of causalities. Our president Trump is not the one to blame in this case. What’s important now is gathering forces to help Puerto Ricans rebuild their lives.
Err on the side of caution. Trump does so with his image on one side and human suffering on the other. His lack of empathy makes sense, given who he is. Defending it is the thing that is most enraging.
4
@Fernando: Trump's OWN U.S. Government Accountability Office issued a report on FEMA's failures with Hurricane Maria. It said 54 percent of federal emergency personnel were not qualified to do the rescue work in October 2017, a month after the Category 4 hurricane hit the U.S. territory, among other failures. They were short staffed, staffed with incompetent people, short of supplies, and more.
It doesn't blame Trump for EVERY death -- at least some are obviously attributable to the dysfunction of the local government. But you are wrong to exonerate Trump. FEMA has the primary responsibility for federal disaster response, and Trump has primary responsibility for managing federal agencies.
9
So now it's a vast conspiracy of M.D.'s, mathematical statisticians and epidemiologists at George Washington University's School of Public health. Trump's behavior is beyond revolting.
34
Of course all those deaths did not happen. He handed out those paper towels which had such an enormous impact on survival.
21
By death toll and other metrics, Hurricane Maria was a bigger disaster than Katrina. Trump and a lot of the U.S. populace seemed to gloss over the Puerto Rican catastrophe because it occurred on an isolated American territory of Spanish speakers.
There should have been more investigation by Congress and by journalists. There is no good reason for the U.S. military led by the Army Corps of Engineers to not have gone to the island and rigged up temporary systems for power and potable water. And then laid the foundation for something permanent.
I seem to recall the electrical power was first addressed by a small outfit out of Montana (of all places), with ties to the Secretary of the Interior. Why? That's ridiculous.
Hurricane Maria was an American disgrace. We're Americans; we're supposed to be good at these things. We have the know-how and equity to get this done.
The rebuilding of the Puerto Rico infrastructure is a public works project, and does not occur in Market World. Because it is not lucrative, a bevy of MBAs, investment bankers, and consultants have no interest. Thus, the federal government should have taken charge pronto and to the max. Alas, Trump abdicated this responsibility.
Where were the senators? ¿Donde estuvo Marco Rubio?
14
Mr. Trump praised FEMA's outstanding preparation for and prompt response to hurricane Maria. He assured the good people of the Carolinas the federal government is as well prepared to see them through Louise, and would do as much for them, as it did for Puerto Rico. This assurance should terrify them at least as much as the storm.
With Trump as president, who needs enemies?
22
This guy.
I can't help but try to figure people out, but trump, wow. It's a difficult task.
The closest I've come up so that Jesus not a man. He is literally a human rendition of television programming. Imagine if you could somehow interact with a TV show, trump is what it would be like.
5
What a disgusting response to a massive tragedy, some of which could have been prevented or alleviated by dedicated action on the part of the government. But Puerto Ricans don’t vote; they are not part of Trump’s famous base; and yes, most of the island’s citizens are people of color. Did he even know that Puerto Rico was part of America?
A quote from Bob Woodward’s new book, “Fear,” summed up Trump’s reaction to one of his many mistakes and failures: “But he’s not man enough to admit it. He’s never been wrong yet. He’s 71. He’s not going to admit he’s wrong, ever.”
He will never admit his culpability in the loss of nealy 3,000 American lives. And of course he will take it two huge steps further and say 1) that it never even happened, and 2) that it was simply fake news created by his enemies.
15
Trump has said exactly what you would expect him to say because in his world everything is always all about him. He lives always in that re- imagined world where everything starts and ends with him. This warped world of his just happens to coincide with a political niche where a symbiotic relationship can be created that is seen as useful to both him and his party.
How far this relationship can be taken remains to be seen. But Trump is not that clever, he is just being himself. What you see is what you get. What you really get is something else again.
4
There are two possible explanations for Trump's remarks on the death toll. Either he is knowingly lying to deflect blame and responsibility. If so he should be called out as a liar, not simply someone making false statements. Or he actually believes what he is saying. If so he is demonstrably delusional and the 25th amendment should be used to relieve him of his duties.
18
There is something ghoulish about the titillation Trump gets from natural disasters. Whether he is ranting or raving, one thing is certain: his perverse tweets will never reach the 3000 souls from Puerto Rico who perished under his watch.
9
Such a compassionate soul we have in our president. His feelings, such as they are, extend to American citizens in Puerto Rico as well Syrian refugees and babies and children of those fleeing Central American violence.
6
I wish Shakespeare or Dickens were around to write the tale of the 3000 souls who will haunt him til the end of time.
13
@JIG Mark Twain could write a great treatment of our present situation.
1
Mr Baker mocks Trump for questioning 70 or so deaths from the storm to revised 3000 dead caused by it?
The same statistical analysis methods could conjure up hundreds of thousands of dead caused by 9-11 however indirect.
Either the analyzers of the statistics expanded causes of storm related deaths or coroner's were corrupt and inept...or this has political motivations.
2
@Lane: Or you didn't grasp the nature of the statistical study… .
9
No, it is standard public health methodologies. Any first year MPH student understands this. There is no conspiracy here, just a narcissist spewing forth and and his followers acting like he’s a victim.
4
People dying from lack of water, food, medicine, and essential services are a direct result of the hurricane.
Your 9/11 statement just shows that you do not understand causation.
2
When will people stop picking on Trump? With Maria he displayed that he understands what presidential leadership is all about as he threw rolls of paper towels to suffering people. I am sure his enemies will criticize him again after Florence hits and he goes to North Carolina and throws toilet paper to needy homeless people. Why won’t the media treat him with the respect he deserves? I think it’s because he’s a Republican. After all the media never gave credit to Bush 2 for his greatest skill which was to duck a flying shoe. Sure a lot of presidents can duck one shoe, but Bush ducked two. He and Condi were asleep at the switch when the twin towers came down, and he drove the economy into the ditch with the Great Recession but that’s what Republican presidential leadership is all about.
16
Trump's problems with reality and truth-telling aside, the numbers are troubling. If, as stated in the report, 3,000 excess deaths occurred, wouldn't it be reasonable to ask how many of those were preventable by an appropriate federal response? The report said it was a 22 percent increase over normal expectation - i.e., around 14,000 expected deaths. Meaning there are that many people who are close to death, and maybe more, at any given time. Under the best of circumstances, a major hurricane is a very stressful event, and that alone might account for an increase in the deaths of people who are already very sick. I have not yet seen any information that clarifies how many of these excess deaths were the result of federal negligence, pre-existing general poor infrastructure that could not have been fixed fast enough, poverty, stress, or other factors. The insinuation is that it should all be laid at Trump's door. Much as I'm loathe to defend that guy, in this case, even though he's lying to defend himself, there may be a bit of a bum rap.
9
@Steve
Those factors would be present in other hurricane events, and could be applied. This 3000 death toll appears to be over and above known factors, and the research is reputable.
1
@Steve : Read the actual study. It answers your questions.
2
@Steve "bit of a bum rap"; not a chance, not when you consider how many people died...the rest of your comments are excellent, but there is no excuse for what he said when so many lives, mainly the difference between his claim, and the detailed facts, are clearly known. There is not an inch of air between the two realities, and that's not enough oxygen to gasp at his breathless lie.
2
He IS a moron, that you very much Rex Tillorson, and thoughtlessly cruel, and plan-fully vengeful.
I don't think many politicians really shed a private tear over the losses and hardships of their constituents. But they know enough not to insult people - or people's intelligence.
This current issue is not about whether there is a exact count of those who died in Puerto Rico because of the storm or the conditions created by the storm's aftermath. The question is what sort of nincompoop would pick a fight like this anyway? Why is he jumping on yet another scapegoat?
What will Mueller find?
22
If the study parameters were to be applied to other hurricanes, what numbers would then be determined?
The basis for the official number relies on assumptions not facts and as a result is highly questionable.
It's only utility at this time is to deny Trump any credit for the federal gov't's response. Consequently, much of the country will respond with suspicion and Trump's popularity will rise.
The media continues to underestimate Trump's political savvy.
3
So you believe Trump’s figure of 6 to 18 deaths ? Even if the professionally estimated 3,000 figure were double the actual number, 1,500 is still Way the heck more than 6 to 18.
10
@william weiss: Trump didn’t do anything but flap his big mouth and insult Puerto Ricans. Surely the Puerto Rico government can be criticized for their lack of disaster preparedness and rotting infrastructure, but just as surely Trump’s behavior does not improve things. Not that Americans have a good track record on disaster preparedness either: Every hurricane results in mayhem with Katrina the worst - when will USA governments get serious about long term planning and investments in infrastructure and zoning that mitigates the damage and aftermath of ever more serious and more often occurring natural disasters?
I’m sorry, but the death toll didn’t go from 16 to 3,000 because of a flawed methodology in the later count. It went up because it was an horrific event, and as with all such things it takes time to find out what really happened, No, Trump will not get credit for yet another blatant lie. His approval rating will not go up. Even his most ardent supporters recognize he is a pathological liar.
15
This is a clincher. He's not fit to serve.
11
Yes we all despise Trump, but something about the death rate sounds suspect.
According to this article (not surprisingly you have to read down to the bottom) the death count was 64 for more than a year, but then was recalculated, not based on actual numbers, but based on some mathematical extrapolation comparing the death rate this year to normal years, and concluding that about 3000 more people died than normal.
That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. Even if you can show by some extrapolation that 3000 more people died than normal, how can you be sure that it’s caused by a hurricane? And what was the extrapolation? And why can’t you at least try to count the number who died and ascertain their cause of death? And if you can’t, why assume it’s caused by the hurricane?
Yes we all despise Trump, but these numbers seemed contrived.
3
@Steven Roth Did you read the independent, third party report or just this article.
Here’s the report: https://publichealth.gwu.edu/sites/default/files/downloads/projects/PRst...
Overview on Page 5 of the methodology and more detail from there. It’s a pretty sound methodology and clearly points to excess deaths from the Hurricane. Otherwise what would cause an spike in deaths in the island? If you have a theory do tell because it would be really good to know what mysteriously caused this spike.
2
I have read this article and read some others and listened to the talking heads on TV and radio. Did 3000 people die/lose their lives as a direct result of the hurricane? Or were there fewer deaths directly related to said hurricane and the total count (such a round number) an aggregate total for a given time period that would include many causes of death? Figures lie and liars figure. Both sides should be ashamed of their using the dead to score points.
2
The GWU study is not a "side."
It's an independent report by qualified experts who used accepted methodology to calculate the probable number of deaths caused by Maria.
Trump falsely blames Democrats for that report, and makes up his own number, based on no methodology whatsoever.
Unless one considers lying a methodology.
1
Why not ask the American people of Puerto Rico, since they were the ones that suffered, died or survived this hurricane. Take that political baloney of Trumps hand, and solely reside the information to the people that lived through this. Then accept that as facts!
5
This is a man with serious defects in reality-testing. It doesn't really matter the reason behind the delusional thinking, whether it's beginning stages of dementia or his life-long narcissistic character disorder. Whatever. The result is that he can never own up to mistakes, never apologize, and always blame, blame, blame. This is sick behavior. He is unfit for office. Any office. His disrespect and disregard for America and humanity in general knows no bounds - except, of course, his more favored offspring. The fact that the richest nation on earth failed to help Puerto Ricans in a timely manner is inexcusable. It should be impeachable in and of itself. Watch how different the southeastern US response will be. White people, naturally.
10
I look forward to the paper towel toss after Florence. Nothing like making fun of other people's misery
9
Just can't understand how people still "approve" of this guy. I feel like that's the real fake news (or, I wish it were). Sad!
15
Of course, it was his great jump shot with the paper towels that solved all the problems that no power or medicines or doctors or food or water might have caused.
I expect him to do his best Jordan impersonation in a week.
8
Why does this article speak of Trump having "falsely accused" the Democrats and making a "false claim" instead of calling him out on what he is doing: lying?
To speak of "false claims", at least to me, leaves open the possibility that Trump might be misinformed and speaking based on wrong information. But we can assume that the American President has access to all the correct information necessary, and that his staff informed him about the death toll in Puerto Rico.
I am aware that accusing someone of lying requires one to make an assumption about the intentions behind a statement. And these intentions, for obvious reasons, cannot be proven. But against the backdrop of Trump's incessant penchant for lying it doesn't strike me as too much of a stretch to make this assumption.
Everything else strikes me as an embellishment of the situation and the maliciousness of trump's statements.
8
Me thinks that Trump has finally exposed his crass disregard in terms of several thousand people too far. On leaving a wine tasting party this evening a man who i assumed to be very conservative and well knew opinionated me to be a liberal issued into my ear some words of disgust about Trump’s total lack of empathy. In apt paraphrase of the man’s rejection of Trump: "Good God, one person in Puerto Rico that has lost one loved one does not need the president of the United States going on and on about how many fewer died in the disaster in terms of a larger number of deaths---has the man no decency?"
22
Someone should organize and sponsor a White House visit for the immediate family members of each of those who tragically lost their lives during this storm and government failures and apathy that followed.
17
Day after day after day, it gets worse. Arguing over dead bodies because there might be political fallout in the real numbers.
There is no low to which he doesn't sink. He has no shame at all. And he doesn't even understand what that means.
34
Trump doesn't need any help looking "as bad as possible". He does a consistently superlative job of that all by himself.
37
How would he know what the death toll was? He only stayed in Puerto Rico long enough to lob some rolls of paper towels into a crowd.
31
Can anyone...ANYONE...imagine a more disgraceful figure occupying the highest office in American government than Donald Trump? What an scar on American history this man and his "administration" are. No matter what comes afterword (and I'm not optimistic we'll be on an incline) we will never live this clown's reign down. Thank you to all the thoughtful, informed citizens who voted for this guy. History will remember you, too.
73
As we all cringe at this latest spectacular disgrace, GOP representatives are mobilizing to make the Trump tax cuts permanent.
20
Please put the main news story in the headline. The main news story is not that Trump claims that the democrats inflated the death toll in Puerto Rico. The main news story IS that Trump FALSELY claims that the democrats inflated the death toll in Puerto Rico. Trump lies all the time to the American people. He makes things up. He doesn't exaggerate or skew facts -- he makes up lies. This is the news. The content of what he says is somewhat irrelevant -- what is relevant is that the content is a lie. All the time.
29
trump lacks the decency even required to acknowledge the deaths of nearly 3000 people in his determination to make himself a victim of dreamed-up democratic antics. Even the most ardent trump supporter has to wonder about his sanity.
28
The Trump show is boring. Same, same, same. I think a nice impeachment would improve ratings....
12
No one makes look Trump worse than Trump. He has no one else to blame. He fuels his own fire. And would take us all down with him if necessary.
24
I think we’re stuck with Trump for another six years unless he changes things so he can run again which means he’ll be around even longer . It’s really amazing !
This whole argument just seems childish to me. There aren't enough topics to pick a fight with so now we're arguing about death tolls? Really? I really thought America was better than that. People need to stop picking fights, assigning scapegoats, and speaking such negative things about the president (even if it sometimes seems like it is well deserved). These arguments and the outpouring of hate I have read in the comments is, quite frankly, sad. It's not doing anything except drive this country further and further apart. Is this really how we want to be represented as a nation? I certainly know it is not what I as an American citizen want to be associated with.
You can't fight fire with fire. Something's gotta give.
3
@Alex
You have not, at all, heard any outpouring of hate
from the chief tweeter? There has been an unending
stream of spontaneous outbursts of contempt from him, heaped upon all those who have the apparent gall to criticize him, point out how he demeans the office by his inability to speak the truth about events, etc. etc. Have you not been attending to this?
What do you think is a proper way to respond to this distinctly unpresidential behavior?
2
It's Trumps lies that are driving the country apart, not reacting to them with the truth.
1
This is a "pants on fire" mistsatement of what Trump said, which was absolutelty accurate: "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"
You are acting like Bill Clinton: "it depends on the meaning of the word 'in' " ... but that's completely clear.
And the original uninflated numbers were calculated as they aways were before the far left haters decided to inflate them to attack Trump. Lets see these inflated calculations .. and its is explicitly stated that they are not "real" numbers .. for all other hurricanes.
And of course who was in the White House would have had no effect on those numbers .. unless, of course, a
political bias was applied .. like it was.
I do believe that it would be politically more accurate to
attribute lots of the problems to the bad electrical grid, which of course can't be blamed on Trump because it
was created longe before him.
Its just another false political attack on Trump.
2
@Doug McDonald. The preliminary numbers were stated when recovery personnel had not had time to cover the entire island. Ignore the GWU study if you like, but those people are still dead.
2
Please show us your evidence that the George Washington University team of highly qualified experts who produced the report of the real death toll are all "left haters."
Contrary to what you claim, Trump never qualified his statement about the death toll. He even doubled down on it.
1
So a methodology to count deaths that has never been used before is used for Puerto Rico? Sounds like a Trump has a point.
5
@JB. Years after the Vietnam War ended, we were still finding additional casualties, such as personnel exposed to Agent Orange. A fairly recent study of Civil War casualties found that they amounted to around 700,000, far more than many of us thought. A cousin of my dad's was left in a persistent vegetative state after a terrible car wreck. It took her about eight years to die, but the car wreck caused her death. Assessing casualties can take time.
2
Every method to do anything has to have a start.
What is Trump's method? Making up a number off the top of his head.
I'll take the meticulous report by qualified experts over the narcissistic liar, thank you.
2
So let me get this straight: some 3,000 American citizens in Puerto Rico died in Maria’s hurricane. And the president says the numbers are wrong? A Democratic plot to embarrass him? Who tossed out paper towels to the destitute citizens a year ago?
“...to preserve, protect and defend...”
OK; now I understand. “Some” Americans count.
41
And except for a few Florida Republicans with signicant Puerto Rican constituencies, the GOP is good with this.
24
We are beyond being sickened or surprised by Trump's lies, callousness and lack of feeling for anyone but himself.
The mystery is why the MAGA-heads continue to ignore disgusting statements like this. As a natural disaster looms for the Carolinas, Trump spends his bloviating hot air defending something that happened a year ago--and blaming Democrats falsely for the increased numbers of fatalities in Puerto Rico as revealed in an independent scientific investigation.
Even the Trumpster folks in the Carolinas whom he has effectively sidelined in favor of his own ego are still excusing his actions.
All I can conclude is that the Trump "base" really loves their drunk uncles and local television-screaming barflies who have blowhard opinions and insults for everyone, but who know nothing. It must be a particular kind of nostalgia.
18
Can someone get all of the immediate family members of the 2,975 people who died, on to a plane to DC and into a room, and force Donald into that room to repeat his claim to their face that the numbers are made up.
I’m guessing he wouldn’t ...
3
Donald Trump's first response, in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11th terrorist attack on New York, was to compliment himself on being the owner of what was now the "tallest building in downtown Manhattan!". That's how the incalculable damage and massive loss of life resonated with Mr. Trump. Processed, of course, through the only lens that Donald Trump ever uses to processes anything - which is in terms of how it affects him, and how it can be used to serve his interests. Just as any sociopath would. And, of course, what he said was an outright lie.
The greater the disaster, the greater the human suffering, the greater the opportunity Donald Trump sees for his own benefit by using whatever lies seem the most appropriate.
It's reported that 3,000 Puerto Ricans were killed as a result of Hurricane Maria. So, what does Donald Trump do? He declares the truth, "a lie", makes up some more lies about how this is all part of a conspiracy by the Democrats to make him look bad, and then congratulates himself on the, "best job that's ever been done" there.
The pattern is always the same: call the truth a lie, call a lie the truth, and then take credit where none is due.
Just imagine the accolades Trump will shower on himself after he launches a few nukes at North Korea, fabricates a series of lies about why they were launched, and then blames everyone but himself for the fallout of his own actions?
Nobody turns lies and misery into self-congratulation like Donald Trump.
57
San Francisco Earthquake.
A week later a woman dies from stress over losing her family.
This was not an earthquake death.
2
People who died of cancers that were a result of exposure to the air after the Twin Towers collapsed are counted as casualties of the 9/11 attacks. It doesn't matter that they died years after, their deaths can be traced to the attacks. The nearly 3000 who died in Puerto Rico died as a result of conditions that were attributed to Hurricane Maria, so yes they should be counted as hurricane related deaths.
5
@True Observer: It was. She would not have died if the earthquake hadn’t happened.
6
Well actually it is. I don't know US state criminal law, but if I remember it correctly, under the Cdn criminal code, if you injure someone and they die from the injury within a year and a day, you can be charged with murder.
Fukushima is similar. How many people died from Fukushima, even if you take into account radiation exposures by workers? Zero. What about Japan giving some worker's compensation because of cancer. Perhaps that is because Fukushima caused cancer, but their compensation system says that if you get cancer having received x amount of radiation we will compensate.
Did people die because of Fukushima? Yes. 573. Should we ignore these deaths?
4
He proves once again that he is not a president.
63
While delivering forceful messages of warning and reassurance, Mr. Trump has also been busy awarding himself good grades for past hurricanes and even accusing opponents of inventing a death toll “to make me look as bad as possible.”
Trump doesn’t need any help in looking as bad as possible. He excels at this on his own.
4
This is hardly different from what Alex Jones is guilty of. He should be banned and blocked from Twitter for good.
9
Trump should do some actual work instead of whining all the time and looking for conspiracies.
25
in addition to Trump's outrageous comments about Puerto Rico in regard to the grade he gave his administration and now his questioning of the number of people who died, we once again see weak responses from Lindsay Graham and Marco Rubio, and no comment from Mitch McConnell The GOP leadership once again shows that they are more concerned with pleasing our poor excuse of a President than standing up for the citizens of this country. These weak-kneed Senators have no integrity and I have to believe that the recent statements by Graham have John McCain rolling over in his grave. Each day brings more sad news from Washington.
34
That Trump shoots from the hip without any evidence, knowledge or facts is within his parameters of an alternative and fictitious world.
4
He seems to be under the impression that the number 3000 is a golf score he can dispute. These are people's lives we're talking about and instead of facing facts, learning lessons, and showing compassion for the bereaved, we're treating it like a game. Of all the heartless sentiments to come out of this White House, this is up there with the worst.
27
This is Trump tailoring his statements to his base. His psychrometric consultant has suggested that he can use this seemingly bad news as a weapon against the Democrats by flipping it into a "fake news" lie. The adults in the room, his staff love this because they believe it's the best way to guarantee their employment. Truth has no meaning to the true-believer.
15
There is something less than fully human about this man. It boggles the mind -- 3000 US citizens die, a US territory is without power or water for months, and yet somehow, it's still all about him.
He is a permanent stain on American history, and a permanent black mark on the moral authority of every person who still supports him. Shame on them all.
84
trump's problem is that he can't count past ten.
35
He doesn’t need assistance from anyone (Democrats) to look bad.
He does a great job of that all by himself.
43
Americans recognize that President Trump lies. A lot. There is no excuse for it and it's both worrisome and mortifying.
But what's just as unconscionable is Republican politicians who refuse to hold Trump accountable for his lies and lapses in judgement. They are failing to perform their constitutional duty.
62
So it is fine for Trump to repeatedly inflate the numbers in the crowd at the inauguration: "I looked out, the field was, it looked like a million, million and a half people.”
He similarly claimed voter fraud in places like California that accounted for Hillary Clinton's almost 3 million more popular votes:"In many places, like California, the same person votes many times — ... not a conspiracy theory folks. Millions and millions of people."
A lack of numeracy in public claims might be amusing or distorted propaganda, but not when it is twisting mortality levels.
When almost 3,000 Americans die - not in a terrorist attack, but due at least in part to a lack of urgency and resources and to indifference, then pretending this never happened is blatant denial.
The lives, suffering and cost of an avoidable disaster is a national and a presidential disgrace. There was a Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation For and Response to Hurricane Katrina investigation in Congress. After 9 public hearings and many interviews and briefings, it produced a report titled "A Failure of Initiative". The official death toll of Katrina was 1,836.
Time for another investigation of Benghazi or Hillary Clinton's emails or FBI agents' personal correspondence?
The Republican Congress is feckless, and Trump is gormless.
60
The liberal leaders of Puerto Rico ran the government into the ground. The island was an economic basket case before the hurricane and those same leaders used the tragedy to score political points for the Democratic party in Washington. The death toll numbers are very suspect.
1
The leadership of Puerto Rico did not produce the death toll number.
It is from an independent report compiled by experts at Washington State University.
Poor leadership in Puerto Rico is no excuse for the poor response by FEMA and the criminal lies of Trump.
1
Enough! How much more do we need to hear from "Anonymous," from Bob Woodward, and now from Donald Trump to realize that we have a mentally impaired President who is incapable of fulfilling the duties of his office, and who is "a clear a present danger" to himself, the nation and the world. It's time for Donald Trump to be removed from office before he inflicts much more damage than he already has. It's time for the "anonymous" high-ranking officials and Congress to honor their Constitutional responsibility to serve and protect the nation rather than enable and serve a deranged Donald Trump and the "Fear" they have for their own political survival. The survival of our democracy demands actions. Now!
36
@Paul Wortman
Very well said, Paul.
You make a compelling case.
So much is at stake. November 6th. Vote.
6
Mental.
Every candidate running for the highest office in the land should undergo a mental evaluation. Furthermore, providing his or her income tax returns, despite being under an audit, if that was the case.
I am sure that after this nightmare of a presidency, there will be a host of measures taken and implemented to improve the election process.
16
He threw paper towels at them. What more could the most powerful man in the world be expected to do?
20
It has been obvious since the beginning of this administration that Donald Trump is not the president of the United States, but is only president of the Republican Party. It is the first time in my life, and I believe the first time in the history of the republic, where a president has so completely abdicated his responsibility to serve all Americans, and has decided to wage open war against the majority of voters who voted against him. While presidents run for office as part of a political party, the president, as executive of the republic, needs to be non-partisan and president of all the people. As Trump is incapable of doing that, he is not fit to hold the office.
24
Does he, and the rest of the government, not have more important things to do? For example, planning for the upcoming needs of those who will need governmental support? For heavens sake, Donald Trump, do your job.
7
Isn't this assertion by Trump grounds enough for impeachment? He's clearly unglued.
42
How is this possibly a partisan issue. The number of people who die are recorded, a death certificate is issued. I don't think that one's political leanings are part of this document, only "dead", and when.
Facts aren't facts, after all...the truth develops over time.
14
"Democrats padded the death toll...“in order to make me look as bad as possible.”
I didn't know the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health was Democrat.
I really doubt it's possible to make Trump look any worse than he already does.
But he seems to have real issues dealing with storms, with or without Non-Disclosure Agreements. Or Michael Cohen.
67
@Yuri Asian, great point, although I would have worded it slightly differently, saying he has trouble with "Stormy situations."
16
This is really a shame for America. Blaming the deaths on the poor infrastructure, the people or even the fact that Puerto Rico is an island. After Haiti there should have been a plan how to deal with a master desaster on Puerto Rico whether it's an earthquake or hurricane and the US Administratiion should have plans to evacuate thousands of people from an island even if ports are destroyed and airfields are flooded. Sorry, but there should be plans for this because to my knowledge the US has also Hawaii and Guam where people could be in danger someday somehow. This is really poor desaster management .. the fact that the deaths came not immediately but slowly due to missing power, medicine etc. is really a very poor sign for the US. And if the situation on the ground there is so bad why does nobody start to help and modernize it? The west german states helped the east german states for decades since 1990 to build up their infrastructure after the reunification of Germany. Why don'tt all the other states help Puerto Rico a little bit? I though it says "UNITED" States of America?
22
Description of the research study by the University from GW Today:
“This research represented the most rigorous study of excess mortality due to the hurricane done to date. The GW-led team analyzed death certificates and other mortality data, and using a sophisticated mathematical model, the team compared the total number of deaths during that time to the expected number based on historical patterns. The research also adjusted for age, sex and migration from the island.”
One is allowed to refute it, but then you need to back your estimate with your method. I’m assuming trumps “scientific” based method was counting on his hands.
Also, the study included:
“The research team also sought to identify flaws in mortality surveillance and communication systems and to offer recommendations aimed at helping Puerto Rico—and the mainland U.S.—establish better methods for disaster preparedness and response.”
Maybe the president and the country should focus more on the suggested solutions, so this doesn’t happen again.
14
Time for Puerto Rico to get statehood. With two votes in the Senate, they would avoid such neglect in the future.
22
Paul Ryan showed is fear or (whatever it is) of Trump in his mild comments about Trump according to the Huffington Post. It seems that Trump was in denial or misinformed about hurricane Maria and that many lives were unnecessarily lost.
I guess Paul Ryan will retire with his tens of millions so he could care less about what Trump does. I think Paul Ryan should retire or be removed by whatever legal method available. He is not fulfilling the oversight (along with Mitch) role of his office which could benefit Trump and more importantly the US people and our form government.
—— Ryan’s comments.
“Casualties don’t make a person look bad,” Ryan told reporters. “This was a horrible storm.”
He added: “Casualties mounted for a long time. ... This is a devastating storm that hit an isolated island. And that’s really no one’s fault. It’s just what happened.”
9
@Javaforce
Yes, Paul Ryan could not care less about Trump does, same with the rest of the Republicans.
Mr. Ryan needs to look at a map—Puerto Rico is not isolated. He sounds as bad at the person in the WH.
2
Puerto Rico is a US territory, and is away from the US mainland. The territory is an island and the people there are all US citizens. With a population of over 3 million inhabitants, those at voting age, cannot vote in US Congressional or Presidential elections. The island is represented by a non - voting delegate in the US House of Representatives.
If you compare Puerto Rico with another US territory island like Hawaii, you see the difference. Hawaii is a US state. What Hawaii has, Puerto Rico lacks in many areas. The biggest handicap or drawback for Puerto Rico is in the island's infrastructure, including utilities. The island is still suffering from the damage to its Utilities and infrastructure from Hurricane Maria.
We see similar situations in other places where the US has an interest. That includes the US territory of Guam, in far away western pacific. Just one natural disaster changes everything in the livelihood of the people. The people are all US citizens, paying taxes, and large numbers of the men and women serving the US armed forces.
One gets the impression that the US federal government is not doing enough in the US territories. Is there a reason for this? Is there a different level of interest or importance for these locations, because they are simply outside the US mainland, and people (US citizens) in these places do not have the right to vote? It is time to address these old questions.
28
The president's remarks are offensive to the families of the victims in Puerto Rico, easily shown to be false by the facts, and extremely lacking in empathy. These deaths have been independently verified, and were caused by the lack of power, fresh water, and medical care as the result of a devastating hurricane in Puerto Rico.
14
If you think of how George Bush bungled the Katrina aftermath, one thing he never did was question the death count.
Trump, who bears similar responsibility for bungling the Maria response, not only rejects the facts that a major university study reported, but manages to blame victims and make it all about him too. This, while another hurricane is hurtling towards the U.S.
Oh, and there's substantial evidence that all of these storms were exacerbated by climate change - something else that Trump contends is a "hoax."
43
My fellow Puerto Ricans - vote the Republican Party out of congressional power in November. And those stateside with presidential suffrage, vote 45 out (if he’s still in office) in 2020.
20
The people who die as a result of hurricanes are our most fragile citizens. Those on oxygen, or dialysis or insulin. If they can’t get treatment or refill their meds/oxygen they die. Most of these people died for these reasons, a tragic failure for a wealthy country
We are slipping into the third world
70
The latest message from "Crazytown." Denial and other-blame are not a legitimate coping mechanism when you're supposed to be a responsible adult who sadly just happens to be Commander-in-Chief. And just where are those "anonymous" insiders when we need them? Certainly not telling "truth to power." Certainly, not preventing essential funds amounting to about $40 million be siphoned from the coast Guard and FEMA when a "monster" hurricane is hitting the U.S. mainland. Instead, our modern Nero fiddles with facts while ignoring many whose very lives depend on his ability to function. It's a personal tragedy that's now a national tragedy. We have an incompetent, mentally unstable man who's narcissism prevents him for caring or protecting others as he's required to do. The disaster is now apparent and we are the victims.
17
This is a new low, even for this bottom-feeding POTUS.
Even if every word of what he said is true--which of course it isn't--a true man, an honest man, a man with a shred of back-bone and decency, would have put this quarrel aside to deal with new disasters looming. Somebody this afternoon on MSNBC, Mike Schmidt I think, said it well: this President is teaching even his supporters to view him as a loony old Uncle.
23
That Trump is using the death toll as yet another attempt to drive a wedge between his supporters and others is appalling.
In trying to stay above the rhetoric the issue of causality is not straight forward though. I believe the death toll of 3000 is probably due to a common practice in counting disasters fatalities.
It is of course true that at old age we tend to die of something. It is not unreasonable to see that a catastrophe such as a hurricane increases the probability of dying. Say an older person might die of heat stress caused by the power outage. While the immediate cause is heat stress the wider scope is declared disaster related.
Personally I am not feeling necessarily comfortable with that accounting method; but this method is common practice. A president cannot change a common practice because it disfavors him.
67
@j-Trump may also be using lying to set himself up so that he cannot be prosecuted or convicted of his larger criminal rap sheet when more of the facts come to light. If he keeps lying, the case can be made that he's not sufficiently capable of knowing what the truth is--as claimed by his previous lawyer, Dowd. It also shows to what lengths he willing to go to protect himself.
2
@j, from my reading it is not standard accounting practice for acute events. We do not inflate the list of people who died on 9/11 by including those who died of cancer years later because of exposure at ground zero. This seems like an innovation in statistical guesswork practiced by a researcher in D.C., not somebody on the ground in P.R. who was counting bodies days after the storm.
JoJoCity,
That's just silly.
First of all, the methodology of the researchers was sound and was done in a reasonable time frame, not "years later."
Second, all the causes they considered were proximate, directly from the effects of the storm.
And finally, the figures speak for themselves. Unless you have an alternative theory for the remarkable spike in deaths in the period following Maria, it's more than reasonable to attribute them to the hurricane.
1
"President Trump on Thursday falsely accused..."
We didn't used to read or hear news reports like this, not even during Nixon, who did lie that he was not a crook. He did his damage several decades before we suffered a pathological liar acting as president.
20
This fellow Trump is one sick presidential puppy. What makes this puppy's condition a national crisis is that the illness is political rabies.
35
If he goes to the island again, I would hope that he leaves the paper towels home. The island seems as if it could use a complete do over. The power system should be evaluated from the basics of power generation and distribution. Housing construction updated to modern techniques and design. Roads need a great update and rebuild. Hospitals need to update their alternative power system and, if still using diesel based generators, increase their fuel storage capacity.
I would hope that the local government would solicit the opinions of some of the leading technical folks of the world on what to do and how to do it.
7
@paul s
and how do you suggest they pay for it?
1
While I wish the president had not Tweeted that, I do believe that some if not many of these deaths occurred long after the storm was gone. No electricity and other issues. And it really does not matter, those in charge in PR are mostly responsible, not the president.
2
@vulcanalex An island is dependent on supply from the mainland. Delays and existing laws made that process a complete mess. Congress and the President could have changed some laws regarding shipping to PR. All that is the federal government's responsibility. Who is in charge of the federal government? Your hero, of course.
21
Vulcanalex: And what was the cause of those outages? The storm!
9
You do know that the President is responsible for territories and not just states, right?
Is it just more fake news or is it true that trump is putting together a 'go fund me' page to buy paper towels for all the people who are going to be affected by Florence?
22
He only counts the casualties while he is involved. Just like Trump Casinos. He's outta here, and it's nothing to do with him. Trump Class all the way!
8
The president lived up to the term “alternative facts” by dismissing the death toll that Maria took on the residents of Puerto Rico last year. As for blaming Democrats for making him look bad in the hurricane’s aftermath, it’s a wonder that the president didn’t blame Maria on Democrats and Nancy Pelosi. And raiding 10 million in FEMA to ICE in order to shelter and feed migrant families is the same as robbing American citizens of the protection they need as Florence approaches the Carolinas.
The president’s own racist policies created the immigration family mess that it still hasn’t fully complied with to reunite families. The president’s tepid response to the devastation Maria did to Puerto Rico and his push-back against the truth of the island’s death toll shows just how unfit he is to serve and protect all American citizens.
38
I wish everyone in elected office or public service were required to take this oath: I swear that the information that I shall give, shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God. I solemnly affirm that everything I say, write, and text shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
And then...if they were not truthful that they could be indicted, taken to trial, and imprisoned if they were found guilty of perjury.
The constant lying of some elected officials create chaos and insanity.
Jerry M
9
I voted in NYc’s primary today. The midterms are less than two months away and I can’t wait. Read, vent, pray. Just make sure that you are ready to do what needs to be done when that sweet day comes: VOTE.
49
A tragedy occurs and you count up the dead.
You don't keep counting them month after month.
Where does it stop.
Someone from New Orleans moved to Houston because of Katrina and today got run over and died.
So, do we chalk that up to Katrina.
If not, why not.
2
When those deaths are the result of the storm, they are storm related. People cut off from health services and clean water, no electricity, etc. How hard is that to understand?
15
@True Observer - We both know that your example is silly. Studies were performed. Year over year comparisons were analyzed. If there was a spike in death’s and all other reasonable causes were ruled out, perhaps we should rely on these experts.
9
@True Observer Please live up to your name. In this article is a link to another article explaining how the number was arrived at. Go read it.
You do continue counting when it takes months to restore electricity, clean water, and medical care. Deaths resulting from failed infrastructure that was destroyed by a natural disaster are always counted.
The government of Puerto Rico has accepted this report though it doesn't make them look good either. POTUS rejects it, not because he disagrees with its methodology, but because it reflects badly on him. Please be better.
7
Can the press stop using phrases like “falsely accuses”, falsehoods and untruths and call Trump’s and his enablers lies for what they really are: LIES. Let’s not sugarcoat this anymore lest we normalize what’s happening.
30
@MissyR I'd like to suggest that the press refers to Trump's "falsehoods and/or false claims" as the defamation (and other people he disfavors) it is.
1
Trump blamed the democrats for inflating the death toll in Puerto Rico and trying to make him look bad. The democrats don't have to do or say anything to make Trump look bad. Trump can make himself look bad without help from anyone.
35
Enough about Trump's ridiculous claim re the number of lives lost in Puerto Rico from Maria. At this point, complaining about Trump's never-ending lies is just beating a dead horse.
(Of course Trump probably would claim that the horse is not really dead.)
27
Resign from the presidency? Trump should resign from the human species.
170
@Ockham9: He has already resigned from the human species, but psychopaths can’t help their condition because they were born that way. They prey on other humans, turning what makes a human a “mensch” against them: Empathy, compassion, trust, honesty - psychopaths consider them weaknesses to exploit using lies.
Same old baloney by a misfit president ... seemingly to keep attention focused on his need for recognition to stay in favor with supporters who see him as "courageous" for being outspoken, while serving as more distraction from questions about things like tax evasion and treason. Nothing new for this individual.
16
How are these lies different than the ones Alex Jones says about Sandy Hook?
36
The Supreme Court ruled this year that Trump could not block people from his Twitter account because it was a de facto means of official government communications. So we have a president who disseminates lies via an official channel of communications, and for the purposes of covering up his blunders. Covering up deaths due to government blunder via state propaganda is something authoritarian regimes do. At least it's still legal to show he is lying. The day Trump can shut down "enemies of the people" is the day America becomes an authoritarian dictatorship.
26
What does little marco say??? He made such a big photo op of his visit to Puerto Rico after the Hurricane; however, we have heard nothing from him since.
9
The federal response to Florence will not be botched. Why?
- Residents of the Carolinas speak English.
- The political fallout would be horrible for Republicans. Mr. Trump does not care one bit about the citizens of affected states, but he does care about his political fortunes.
(Not that he knows anything at all about disaster response.)
26
Unfortunate timing for inhumane and unpresidential commentary about a disaster that devastated Puerto Rico.
13
For Trump this would be a huge success. The almost 3,00 people who died were not of Nordic or Aryan descent, many had brown skin and I’m sure most spoke Spanish as a first language. For him and many of those in his racist base, the fact that they’re dead is a good thing. I doubt if they know or care that they were American citizens.
63
He can stand it when a hurricane is getting more attention than he is.
Sad.
24
@ Dan Pettet-the Hurricane is stealing the limelight but it is also coming at a convenient time- it distracts from the awful optics from "FEAR", Bob Woodward's book which came out on Tuesday.
3
Adapting Carly Simon's 70's hit:
You're so vain
You probably think this report is about you
You're so vain,
I'll bet you think this report is about you
Not everything is about President Trump. This study was carried out by by researchers at George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health who simply wanted to establish baseline statistical facts. This was not about Trump even if the chips do end up falling to contradict his previous assertions.
19
Mr. Trump is denying the deaths of nearly 3000 people in Puerto Rico.
Does Mr. Trump also deny that 6 million Jews were murdered in the holocaust? Does he deny that nearly 3,000 Americans were killed on September 11, 2001?
Does he think the numbers commissioned by the Puerto Rican government and independently validated are less credible than those of World War II, or NYC in 2001? He has said the numbers are fabrications from his political enemies. This resembles rhetoric from holocaust deniers and 9/11 “truth” conspiracists. And history has countless other examples.
Perhaps he will say, like many of his supporters, that there are good people on both sides of this “debate.” Or, as some commentators claim, that “all politician, and all sides of the media lie.”
It seems to me that the people are either alive or dead.
Think about the implications of Mr. Trump’s denial. He is essentially saying that those in Puerto Rico either deserved to die, or that their lives are negligible because they do not serve his political ends. Much like the lives of unarmed civilians killed by police, or the Central Park Five (whose executions he clamored for after their exoneration), or Heather Hayer in Charlottesville, who I suppose was at fault for being there in the first place, or was asking for trouble.
Keep this in mind when the President’s enablers justify his rhetoric, and the life and death effects of his actions (and inactions). And remember what they are capable of.
28
Trump in a nutshell-
No empathy
No honesty
No humility
No Competency
85
For the people in the Carolina s, if you are white and live in an area that Trump won and you lose a window than it is a national tragedy. If you are Black or live in an area he lost and you die, well you never existed in the first place.
51
Add mine to the social media voices criticizing the NYT for the headline that accompanies this story. Is “rejects” now how you say “lies about”? Could you not leave his criticism of the Democrats just hanging there, unchallenged? Many people just scan headlines and never get to the story. Do better.
10
Is there no bottom to this man’s shallowness and lack of awareness to ANYTHING but himself. This makes me sick.
43
The president's MO has always been: When a story resonates bring out an even bigger denial/accusation despite all evidence to the contrary. Whether it's the size of the inauguration crowd, the "failings" of Obama care, the "witch hunt" Mueller investigation or, now, the very real and tragic impact of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico, the reaction is invariably the same. Attempting to create an aura of infallibility via tweets isn't what the American people elected him for. President Trump should realize that those that never fail were never really trying in the first place.
35
Self praise is poor praise!
12
The good news is that thousands of Puerto Rican AMERICAN citizens are mad at him, they're moving to Florida...and they can vote.
27
The more this fellow rants and the longer it takes the dwindling number of Americans to figure out that he is mentally disturbed, the greater the damage he inflicts on our nation. Time for congressional Republicans -- House and Senate -- to stand up and protect our USA.
23
What a miserable human being.
No, make that just "being".
127
Trump. This is one sick man.
103
Every American should fell shame and anger at the failure of our government to properly address the situation in Puerto Rico. They are our brethren. They are US citizens. They have suffered greatly.
Trump is an empty suit. No conscience, no empathy and no moral compass.
He fist pumps the crowd before a 9/11 Memorial Service as if it were one of his rallies. Disgusting!
He tosses paper towels to a crowd of distressed US citizens as if he were at a Nicks game. Horrifying!
The guy lies, lies, lies. Shameful!
His intellect is comparable to 5th grader that has been left behind. (No insult intended to 5th graders.)
PLEASE get him out of the White House NOW. He is a disgrace to our country and has sullied the Office of the President beyond measure.
What a poor excuse for a human being. And we have the misfortune of calling in Commander In Chief.
And the Republicans remain silent. Despicable!
117
@Larry
Your last sentence, "And the Republicans remain silent. Despicable!" should be your FIRST sentence.
We all know DJT is a lost cause.
The GOP Congress is our real problem.
We need to immense and continuous pressure on the GOP to call Trump out and start taking action against this corrupt vile creature.
I thought I understood his depravity during his years as a NYC real estate buffoon. I thought I understood his depravity as a presidential candidate. I thought I understood his depravity as president. At every stage, I thought I couldn't be surprised. At every stage, I have been. This is another surprise. As bad as his actions regarding Latinos has been, as bad as his actions regarding Hurricane Maria have been until now, this goes beyond depravity. This goes beyond any definition of human decency.
111
Sometimes I wish the nyt could just print clearly and plainly what most of us are thinking. Donald Trump is an awful person. Truly terrible. Are your precious tax cuts worth this, republicans?
98
@AE I don't doubt for a second that 99% of republicans think tax cuts for the rich are worth anything. Yes, anything!
2
There is more than one way to be traitor.
48
@Al
You are right and so now watch Trump pardon his Russia-loving comrade, Manafort.
Trump is a complete egotist & an unrepentant
liar. How much longer do we have to endure this
dangerous man ?
47
This news comes out the same day the President is holding over 12,000 immigrants in camps. Trump is a racist and a dangerous one. Where is anonymous now? Where are the mass protests? Our keyboards are getting a workout, but this pathetic sociopath is the leader of the free world and he needs to go.
51
Get him out. This is heartless, cruel, the worst role modeling in the world. Petty and sick. And if ever to be spoken, at the worst, worst time.
34
Trump's applying the 3/5th rule since the victims of the hurricane weren't white...
27
Perhaps President Trump see Hurricane Maria as a kindred spirit: mindless, amoral, unpredictable, spinning around himself in his own orbit, blowing huge amounts of hot air that you pray will stop, and leaving a wide path of destruction wherever he goes.
30
Maybe the Armed Forces should have been put in charge in Puerto Rico.
5
@Ed Maybe the Red Cross should have gone in to Puerto Rico. Disaster relief is what they do.
Families who have lost loved ones could send the president photos of their names and coffins. The White House could make a memorial.
I feel there is one factor that needs to be considered in the analysis: The condition of the Puerto Rican power grid before Maria. I read a number of articles last summer noting the dilapidated condition of the grid and its vulnerability to storms. So my question is: Had the grid been in a state of good repair, would the death toll been as high. Perhaps Maria would have destroyed the most robust grid and there is no difference. I believe their are lessons to be learned in every disaster. Maria and Puerto Rico are no different.
2
Stormy times are headed Donald’s way
Whether on this or some other day
Stormy skies can’t conceal
The Stormy Daniels deal
Or his presidency’s disarray
17
Here we go, again! If the news or reports is not to his liking as it paints a negative picture of him or his administration, like a little brat, he throws a tantrum and accuses people, organizations of wrongdoing!
Grow up and give it up! If you can’t handle the presidency, step aside.
38
@Jocelyn
Unfortunately, trump thinks he can handle the presidency and is going a great job.
Trump lying is pathetically obscene. Worse yet are the synchophants. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott attempting to make political hay at Puerto Rico’s expense.
They voted to go along with everything Trump did.
35
Where is this country headed when so many people still support this unethical liar who doesn’t even support those who elected him?
36
@Bob Perhaps some who still claim to be a Trump supporter has a small spot-getting larger-in their heart/brain that is beginning to accept the fact that their 2016 vote may have been a mistake? It could be too embarrassing to admit publicly that it was not the best choice.
2
Supersized Nixon is really losing it. I can't wait until the Midterms, he will be screaming and frothing at the mouth. Seriously.
23
It has been and always will be all about him. He doesn't have an empathic or sympathetic bone, brain cell, or emotion in him.
25
To quote Joseph Welch in the Army-McCarthy hearings "Have you no sense of decency, sir?" Trumps bluster reminds me a lot of McCarthy, with very similar tactics, and like McCarthy he lacks any sense of anything but self aggrandizement.
13
As we have witnessed (without the need for any of his staff telling us so), Trump is completely unmoored from truth & reality. His "best brain" is in Bizarro world and, sadly, so are we. It's maddening to watch him tell lie after lie & to have his supporters believe him rather than their own senses. This long waking nightmare just keeps getting worse. We are the bystanders transfixed to this worsening train wreck, unable to avert our eyes. Those Republicans running in the midterms hug him ever tighter the more outrageous he gets. He's already had his Katrina several times over, yet he remains. I feel as if I am in a fugue state and can't go back to the real world.
9
Well, he's not very good with numbers over ten. Time for golf then a soothing nap, then some more "old man tweets".
12
Alex Jones is finally getting called out and denied a voice on most platforms. At what point does our President get held to the standards of other citizens, whether it is sexual assault, spreading conspiracy theories or endangering lives by his thoughtless comments? His behavior is untethering us from what makes this a workable democracy; and his self-serving diatribes at rallies and his provocative, baseless tweets are in essence the propaganda used by dictators. While I continue to grind my teeth wondering why rules never apply to him, I have to believe somewhere there is a scholar of the constitution who can somehow make the defensible claim that this behavior makes him unfit to serve.
33
The death tolls from hurricanes in Communist Cuba are remarkably low compared to the American Caribbean and even mainland USA. The Cuban Government employs painstaking efforts to protect its people during these hurricanes that often make landfall in Cuba. Perhaps Trump should check the records, he will be ashamed if he did.
10
Horrific, President Trump's relentless insistence that he did "an unappreciated fantastic job!" after Hurricane Maria, and that the figure of 2,975 Puerto Rican dead after that storm was confected by the Democrats! Now we are facing Trump's Waterloo as Hurricane Florence devastates the Carolina coasts in the coming days. People who hunkered down in their homes instead of avoiding high flood waters by evacuating may well be on their roofs by next week, a frightening Katrina Redux scenario. May the loss of life from Florence be far less than that of Katrina (1,833) in 2005, and Maria (2,975) in Puerto Rico.
10
His assertions are a way to keep us talking about him. Heaven forbid that we would turn attention away from him for any reason.
10
"I think Puerto Rico was an INCREDIBLE success. [... ] and I actually think that it's one of the best jobs that's ever been done." - Donald Trump, 9/11/18, about the government's response after Hurricane Maria. He spoke for over a minute and a half in the same congratulatory vein.
Just a reminder if you hadn't seen the full clip. He was responding to THIS question: "What lessons do we take from what happened in Puerto Rico?"
This, and his tweets about the death toll, go hand in hand. What needs to be learned from a "best ever" response? Apparently, nothing. How can our response have been so successful if so many people died? Voila, they didn't.
19
Even if some of the nearly 3,000 people did not die as a direct result of the hurricane, it was, in fact, the hurricane's toll that can be attributed to the deaths of these people. The lack of clean water, medical supplies, and power were all byproducts of the hurricane's damage. To have treated the damages from two different hurricanes that made landfall in the US so differently because one was on the mainland and one was not is so wrong. Also, I must ask, how can the 2,910 deaths not included in the official death toll until now be accounted for if they were not connected to the hurricane? Sure, some natural causes can fit the description like dying of old age, but the living conditions following the hurricane could have aggravated pre-existing conditions that were not life-threatening when the person lived in a controlled setting.
20
You’re wasting your breath on Trump nonsense. Save it. You’re not dealing with sense! Don’t bother arguing. Just read, role your eyes, and wait to vote appropriately. It’s a waste of time! It’s not the first or last piece of nonsense from trump that will be in the media, so I personally think folks need to start saving their breath and energy!!
9
Trump is a liar, is, always was and always will be.
34
I am sick and tired of reading about Turmp's lies and disgusted that the NYT posts his tweets with live links. There is no journalistic value in doing so. His hateful gibberish has no value.
I want reports on the politicians in the upcoming elections, their views and plans, and their answers to cogent questions.
20
If they support Trump, vote for someone else. End of story.
6
Exactly!!! That was my reaction too!!! I thought “here we go, again!” Why they and the rest of the media are doing it is really my question at this point!!! Why do they continue to serve as his mouthpiece, to Americans lift his hate and nonsense. Why? What if anything is in it for them? Do they have an agenda??! Why?? What if anything is going on??!
2
Trump has the mind of a Holocaust denier. Torn between denying crimes committed against people he thinks are subhuman and bragging about his role in those crimes must create massive turmoil inside him.
23
I can't wait to hear trump has gone to one of his resorts to play golf on tax payer money this weekend, and when asked about Florence, his reply will be I have been there a couple of times, its a nice place. Hurricane, what Hurricane?
11
Trump is unfit for office. Just admit it. Vote out Republicans to save America. Ray Sipe
28
Let’s give this knucklehead the benefit of the doubt and say that the numbers are inflated. Let’s even go with a ridiculous cast that they doubled the number of deaths. That means about 1500 people died on your watch, DT. It still evidences your ineptitude. And your tweets, as always, evidence your incredible levels of insecurity. Sad.
14
Playing politics with dead, diverting money from Fima to lock up immigrants. What s next? Execution of political opponents? This is an evil man. We have lost our way.
19
Thank for saying directly that the president falsely claimed the Democrats inflated the numbers.
Falsely.
This is important.
He lies to us and expects us to believe his lies.
16
Wow. Just wow. Words fail me.
12
@Robert Rutherford There are no words left. VOTE
Trump doesn't think the new official death count is accurate because they were counting brown people.
13
Good God!
Is there no moral line that Trump won't cross?
13
November 2020. Cannot. Come. Soon. Enough.
44
Whether or not Trump is assessed by a psychiatrist is no longer an issue since he proves, daily, that he is completely unfit to sit in the White House. Nor does it matter whether or not he believes the death toll in Puerto Rico neared 3,000.
In either case, and for many others as well, Trump is delusional, a liar, without empathy or compassion, he is vindictive, spiteful, a thug and malignant. He should not be our president.
The same may also be applied to the Republican Congressional majority that continues to support the insidious stupidity and dangerous narcissism of Donald Trump.
I happily keep in mind the sign held high in front of the White House that read, in part, 'Tick-Tock...'
November 6, 2018.
22
This sociopathic, narcissistic, sorry excuse for a human being failed to help people in Puerto Rico at a time of need. Only the photo op paper towel incident will be remembered. He is posturing for this storm currently because of GOP leanings of the Carolinas. He refuses to comprehend or care about the effects of climate change on this storm, recent fires, floods, etc. So, good luck Carolinas. No matter what happens to you in coming days or in the future, Trump will claim great success. “ Paper towels “ are on their way.
18
Between this recent tweet and his fist pumping at the 9/11 memorial service, he just continues to exhibit his utter lack of humanity,
26
I feel like there's a broken record in my head that keeps repeating, "This guy is a terrible excuse for a human being."
16
What’s wrong with him?
18
So, it's all about him? The Democrats are raising the numbers of the deaths in Puerto Rico as a result of Hurricane Maria to make him look bad? He does that all by himself.
9
Please don't bury this story, and please headline it how it should be headlined: "Trump appears to be lying or in denial about the magnitude of Hurricane Maria's death toll in Puerto Rico"
His apparent (sociopathic) inability to understand his job or accept accountability (even when lives have been ruined or lost) seems to increase by the day and must be called out loudly and assertively by the press.
12
How about a memorial reading of the names of the victims? Maybe do this in front of the White House on the anniversary of Trump’s inauguration?
15
In rejecting the methodology and results of the study Trump is also rejecting the recommendations from the study that could save lives in the future. All for politics. Disgusting.
12
Trump's barrel has no bottom. He is the the worst of the worst, the exemplar of cruel, egotistical inadequacy. If only we could find a mirror that makes him look thin and intelligent he could spend the rest of his days admiring his image and leave the rest of us alone.
11
Trump has no reservation to hurt and enrage the Puerto Ricans because doing so does not hurt his re-election. Puerto Ricans do not have voting rights. We mush work to change that, along with other disenfranchised voters such as citizen who convicted felons; voter ID restrictions. And we have to fix Gerrymandering and the loops hole of electoral college. Loads of work to do Democrats!
5
After repeated lies with the same MO, the Woodward book and the anonymous letter, Trump will have a harder time getting away with these these blatant falsehoods.
6
So our president says Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz of San Juan is “totally incompetent.” Well, unlike President Trump, at least she can do simple math and apply it to important things—things like counting her citizens who have died. But what she also might want to take heart in is that this is just how President Trump works. When he’s in a disagreement with you he can’t just say “Well, we disagree.” Part of his mental health problem is that he always—always—has to tack on a crummy, no-class put-down of you.
And this is for anyone. The one that will haunt him the most, of course, is that the late Senator John McCain was “not a war hero.” Meryl Streep, probably our best living or for that matter dead actress, is “over-rated.” LeBron James is not smart, and…well you get the idea. The Times compiled a log of these presidential insults back in July, at which point they counted 487, but of course the toll is now much higher, with Mayor Yulín Cruz now added to the list.
Boy, I wish I was on that list—that’s some elite company! So Ms. Mayor, take heart—keep doing what you’re doing, and be reassured that you may well be the Meryl Streep or LeBron James of mayors!
8
Thank you, Mr. President! Each statement likes this moves more Independents to the Democratic ticket choices this fall. To keep this momentum going, here are a couple of additional accusations you can make. Put the Mount St. Helens volcano on the Democrats bac. Blame the sinking of the Lusitania on them too. ( Since I know you don't read, the Lusitania was a big boat that sank a long time ago. Many died.)
And finally, don't forget to proclaim that Hannibal Lecter was undoubtedly a Democrat.
7
President Trump demeans the memory of every American lost as a result of Hurricane Maria when he makes the tragedy about him. Yes, many more people died than previously thought and many of them were old and infirmed. But President Trump needs to understand that their deaths may have been hastened (and perhaps made more painful) by the aftermath of the hurricane. These updated figures are not a scorecard! They should give us all pause and spur us to make changes to our disaster recovery plans. Otherwise these Americans will have died in vain and that would be an even bigger tragedy.
5
I am definitely no Trump supporter, but I am a mathematician. I would like to know what method was used to account for the 2,946 deaths now attributed to last year’s hurricane in PR.
Unlike 9/11 or hurricane Katrina when we could immediately account for missing people, why did it take so long to find nearly 3,000 bodies in PR?
Is there a possibility that fraudulent insurance claims could have caused people to blame the hurricane for otherwise health/age related deaths?
1
The report has a methodology section
4
Nothing surprises me about this president. What would be surprising is if he were to apologize more often and stop blaming others for his own faults.
4
I'm Surprised President Trump did not add "And I did a Great Job tossing Paper Towels to the people in need of them" What are Republicans waiting for when will they stop this madness
6
At his next rally, will his assertion--I mean lie--be another one of his talking points? In addition to "Lock her up," will the crowd chant, "Six dead in Puerto Rico! Six dead in Puerto Rico!" And Trump will feel vindicated and return to the White House, turn on Hannity and be comforted that his tweet was right and reality was wrong.
11
Apparently he thinks he knows what he's talking about because he, himself, is highly experienced at inflating numbers . . .
18
Meanwhile in Cuba, I'm sure the good people there are thanking Castro & Co. for sparing their island the miserable ordeal of still being--like Puerto Rico--a de facto colony or dependency of the United States. That situation in Cuba ended 60 years ago this coming January.
America's record in the Caribbean has always been decidedly mixed. Is it any wonder that the most populous independent country in the region went communist in 1959? And now in 2018, the U.S. president in the person of Donald Trump is very much a "caudillo" leader in the tradition of Batista in pre-Castro Cuba or Trujillo in the Dominican Republic.
5
This ins't even funny anymore it is just sad that this is what we have for a leader or lack of leader
7
Trump doesn't really need any help in “in order to make me look as bad as possible.”
16
Trump is pathetic and racist.
Does anyone really have difficulty understanding why he would question, attack and ridicule the death toll number?
It's because he's racist and only interested in himself.
12
Gee, you think a guy who cheated on his first wife with his second wife, took the 5th amendment 97 times in his second divorce and had unprotected sex with a porn star while his third wife was holding his infant--- that guy --- would lie?
104
As of December 2017, 57-percent of Trump voters believed President Obama was not born in America. He's counting on these same folks to believe whatever he tweets.
15
By refusing to acknowledge the official death toll and refusing to learn from mistakes that were made, Mr. Trump is further jeopardizing the safety of future hurricane victims. This is serious business, not a popularity contest.
12
Another atrocious comment, another flurry of Tweets denouncing/supporting/equivocating, another NYT article/OpEd. I’m just so tired of it all. This sick sick sick man will never suffer the consequences for his actions. Even if he’s voted out or impeached, his base of idiots will never abandon him, and that’s all he really craves ... adulation from anyone.
I still can’t believe we have to have this creature forced down our throats on a daily basis. I think Twitter should declare a Trump free week and suspend his account for 7 days. Why not? Just one blissful week. And the NYT should resolve to only report his actual policy decisions ... no gossip, no Tweets, none of it. If he actually does something, report it; otherwise, let it die of malnourishment.
86
Your comment has made my week, so far.
1
@Jay. Brilliant. I too have been waiting on more policy reporting and less bright shiny crazy tweets.
All those protections that get crushed every day. The impact to the majority of us. Connecting the dots between the environment and our health / the economy. Connecting the dots between Republicans failed policies and human suffering. Showing the data for closing abortion centers and the impact it has on higher unwanted pregnancies and abortions. Shining a spotlight on corporate welfare. Shining a spotlight on how the capitalists are making off with all of the money while the little guy is getting stomped. Reporting on all of the agency dismantling and the impact to the poor, the economy, the environment, our health, our communities. The loss of biodiversity and the impact that has on the ecosystems and the domino effect that has to human society . Putting climate change on the front page with all of the dollar figures, all of the people who will be displaced from their homes around our country, the cost to cities and states and federal government for not taking action on climate change and rising waters and raging fires..... so many options other than reporting on insane tweets.
1
NYT should publish the names of each of the 2,975 people who died due to the hurricane.
36
Yeah, as usual the only REAL victim here is Trump.
Grow up. Seriously.
21
Anyone who believes the ravings of this delusional narcissist should be stricken from the voter roles for being mentally incompetent. After 18 months of listening to Trump's fantasies/lies those who still believe anything from this POTUS must be as demented as the POTUS himself.
33
There is a simple explanation for Trump's rejection of the Puerto Rican death toll. Trump doesn't like to be upstaged by anyone, including his friends. Since Infowars' founder, and Trump ally, Alex Jones has gained considerable notoriety by claiming that the 2012 shooting that killed 20 children and 6 adults at a Newton, Conn. eementary school in Newtown, Conn., was an elaborate hoax, Trump figures he has to one-up Jones. So he claims that the estimated death toll from Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico 2,975 is a fake number: "I'll see your 26 fake deaths Alex and raise you."
It's just Trump's unique way of trying to keep up with the Jones's.
9
Folks it is simple. Trump is ethically and morally unfit to be President. He is a draft dodger and pathological liar that is destroying this great country.
103
@ jpope
Call Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell.
They are the only 2 people, right now, in the entire U.S who can do something about Trump.
'Brownie, you're doing a heck off a job'
Oh, for the good old days!
11
PATHETIC !! no evidence of any concern for those who died. T sensing
he might have had some responsibility for this degree of tragedy.
He MUST RUN from any kind of BLAME (of self) for a failure that he just might of been (at least) partially responsible for.
T's self image as he sees it matters MORE than anything else,
including very very serious loss of life-to say nothing of all the other losses the hurricane caused in P.R!!
P.S. I really hope people do not think hurricane Florence is, "fake weather!"
8
Dear President Trump,
No one needs to do anything at all "to make you look as bad as possible".
You seem to be handling this part quite nicely all by yourself.
112
Don loves paper towels more than he loves non-white Americans.
12
The story is reported in the"failing" NY Times. Then it's, ipso facto, fake news. Does that qualify as a double negative in Trump's bizarro lexicon. Meaning he is lying?
6
Trump Again Disgraces Himself And The American People By Lying About Death Toll From Hurricane Maria.
7
“This was done by the Democrats in order to make me look as bad as possible...”
Hey Trump. You don’t need the Democrats or anyone else to make you look as bad as possible. That is the one and only thing you excel in doing all by yourself.
22
"The Democrats are trying to make me look Bad ". No, Sir. In that regard, you're an entirely self-made " man ". Seriously.
74
It's always about him, isn't it ?
13
Be very afraid of this person that got into our White House. Soon he will find a conflict that will allow him to declare marshal law. Then once that occurs he’ll get those higher ratings. It all has to do with him andyhat hateful base.
Now is the time for all good women and men to vote him and his dispicables out of our congress and government.
He’s following orders from his Russian keepers. Confuse and lie and denigrate with no caring or empathy for any of us. .
6
What is wrong with this man? Nothing is true and everything, everything is about him. Is this a mental issue? How did this man become President?
7
What piece of news are we missing today while everyone ponders the latest idiocy coming from the White House? How many immigrant kids are locked up now? How many have been reunited? Asking for a caring America.
9
This is a disgusting lie besmirching the tragic deaths of thousands of Americans in the aftermath of a national tragedy.
Why doesn't the GOP call for his resignation right now?
Why isn't this horror enough?
What will be enough for the GOP if they think even this is nothing?
How long?
How long?
7
@fast/furious This GOP is a spineless lot with not an ounce of integrity. They'll continue to bite their tongues until it becomes politically expedient for them to do otherwise.
7
His lips moved and he lied.
What a surprise.
17
Trump and the Republicans who support him are untrustworthy.
#NeverTrustRepublicansEVER
16
Dear Mr. President, no one has to make outrageous statements to make you look bad. You do a terrific job of that all by yourself.
20
If Trump wasn't so dangerous , he would be laughable.He is either insane or living in a fantasy.
10
Trump is all about show and PR.
I feel he is truly a sociopath who lacks even
an iota of empathy and compassion.
Who would want to debate the actual death total from that catastrophe?
A real leader would commiserate and do whatever is possible to deal with the next disaster more competently and with legitimate concern for the suffering of our fellow citizens.
28
Trump, Putin's sock puppet, doesn't need anybody's help to look as bad as possible, he does just fine by himself. Besides he never cared about Puerto Rico since its citizens cannot vote for president & are mostly Hispanic. Also its likely that until his staff pointed it out to him he didn't even know they were American citizens. (neither do many of his supporters & apologists who still like to claim that they arn't legitimate citizens) Sad
18
This may be some of the most damning evidence of Trump's racism and narcissism yet. To deny the documented deaths of so many American citizens, and to view this occurrence as having anything to do with himself, is outrageous. That Trump knowingly lies may no longer be noteworthy, but thank you to the NY Times for continuing to report the President's falsehoods.
16
Trump never apologizes and he never admits to any blunders and he does this because he thinks that doing so is a sign of weakness. Instead when confronted with the obviously sound facts that contradict what he has said, he says it's fake or untrue. Now why cannot he see that when he does this that he appears inane, not strong?
318
@Casual Observer, he *knows* that never admitting a mistake or conceding a point is an effective tool in low-class politics. The Republican party has made a tool of it at least since Reagan.
2
@Casual Observer...when trump sees the word "inane" he thinks anime Japanese comics and considers: "that would be a good addition to my presidential library of comic books and Playboy magazines."
1
@Casual Observer The rare times he does admit to doing something wrong or incorrectly, it's for his immediate convenience.
1
On a daily basis President Trump continues to show his incompetence, irrationality and lack of fitness for his position. He is truly a danger to America and the world given the levers of powers he controls and that he can operate without proper judgment. I truly hope he vacates his office before he does something that even his babysitters cannot prevent.
24
So what are you folks doing about it? It's up to you!
1
I suspect that trump might view Puerto Rico as a success because it eliminated 3000 Puerto Ricans.
37
@L.S.
SICK BUT UNFORTUNATELY, TRUE!
3
When will the lies ever become too much for the 80% of Republicans who approve of Donald Trump?
24
@cort Never: PDT can do no wrong.
2
This is where we need real journalism. Let's read the stories of the people who died due to the hurricane in Puerto Rico. Tell us where, how and why they died. If he is lying to the extent it appears, it should be ridiculously easy to refute the death toll statistics Trump gave today.
10
Democrats don't need to try and make Trump look bad. Trump does that very well himself.
6
Are there no depths to Trump’s insensitivity and empathy, for the thousands of Puerto Rican’s who last year, were killed by a devastating hurricane?
There must be a significant minority of Republicans who no longer can support this President, who spreads fiction and pain on a regular basis.
6
I think it was the same person that counted the people at his inauguration.
15
Is it true that President Trump, in his imagined role as emperor of our planet, has issued his first edict? He has cited the faculty of George Washington University, those who worked to determine the number of deaths in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria. He decreed that number is a Democratic Party trick and that henceforth the academic institution's name shall be changed from George Washington to Benedict Arnold University. Can this be true?
7
It would be lovely irony if the Puerto Rican transplants to Florida were the ones the turned the November election for Democratic candidates. For governor they have a choice between a rabid Trump supporter or a progressive mayor. I hope they all vote.
Beyond that, yes, getting aid to an island with a marginal infrastructure shortly after two other hurricanes challenges resources and emotions. But excoriating the death toll of people, many from families who spent a year without basic services, is just cruel.
47
@Kathy
We have the best rapid response military infrastructure in the world. There is no question more could have been done in a timely manner. Lives would have been saved.
4
All of this has some of us wondering, as we have for several months, whether Puerto Rico would like to become a Canadian protectorate? We would happily provide health care, education and, we hope, stable government in exchange for a warm place to spend time in winter. And we promise not to lob more bombs at Vieques. Canadians did look longingly at the Turks and Caicos a few decades back. The citizenry was in favor, but politicians failed to act when the time was right. Maybe now we could establish our Canadian dollar (the loonie) in some winter haven that is fed up with D.C.?
22
@Barbara Bond - At this point we would all like to become a Canadian protectorate!
5
I'm surprised Trump hasn't said that the Democrats caused Hurricane Florence because it's targeting red states.
I think Trump is really worried about what the aftermath of Florence is going to be and whether there will be any criticism of the government's response. If it's bad, he'll probably blame it on the NC governor who happens to be a Democrat. If it's good, he'll praise himself and the SC governor who is a Republican.
He always makes everything political and if he can find any way to blame the Democrats for it, he will.
10
I can't say I'm surprised that he's acting like a sociopath on Twitter again. And I won't be surprised when republicans use the economy and whatever else as excuses not to fully criticize their guy.
"Those aren't the words I'd choose, but in my neck of the woods people don't care much about that stuff. They care about the economy, and tax cuts and funding the military."
5
How difficult is it to admit that earlier death-estimate of Maria-savaged Puerto Rico was way-off reality? If the President were to admit this simple fact, probably, just probably, people would have appreciated their POTUS with reverence that a stupendous fact such as this naturally summons at its wake. Making errors is always possible, making judgmental errors in a situation where a nation is challenged to its core is even more frequent in our daily march of living – but to redesign such issues, to change them to suit political relativism ignores the basic tenets of humanity: compassion to all who suffer.
If President Trump were a malfunctioning mechanical robot, one could take his current comment and ignore it. But the 45th President is not a robot; he is being seen supporting and openly canvassing for a lot of Republicans in their campaigns currently running in this midterm election. How do these candidates personally deal with such an unnecessary distortion? Take Ted Cruz, for example. He has openly criticized the President for distorting the fact while he is also ready to use the President actively in his campaign. Is it not a going to be walking disaster for him? How do the rest GOP feel?
5
People die of natural deaths. What I want to is what was the death toll during the same period the year before when the weather was not a factor. Then, with a little math we can figure approximately how many additional deaths can be ascribed to the hurricane.
58
@MIKEinNYC The deaths aren't immediate. Dialysis patients (of which I am one), people on ventilators, people requiring chemo, and many other health problems not addressed shortly after a crisis like this will certainly lead to death sooner or later without medical intervention...
4
@MIKEinNYC
That is exactly how they came up with the 2,975 deaths figure. They compared the typical number of deaths during comparable periods when there were no hurricanes and saw the increased number of deaths when Maria hit.
2
@MIKEinNYC
The New York Times had a story about this late last year before the official number came out.: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/08/us/puerto-rico-hurricane-...
They also just updated a story here from the official count: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/02/us/puerto-rico-death-tolls.html
1
Trump accuses the Denocrats of every act of incompetence and criminality that HE commits. TRUTH! He NEVER takes responsibility for ANYTHING, and there is an awful lot for which to answer!
The difference between 16 and 3000 lives in Puerto Rico is due to the pathetic, incompetent response of the Trump Administration. From the onset of Maris, the Mayor of San Juan hit the nail on the head, but got nowhere due to the incompetence of the Giovernor of PR and TRUMP. 16 - a joke. All the other AMERICANS diet as a direct result of failure to provide life-saving post-storm essentials like food, water, disease control and power.
Puerto Rico is an ISLAND. It's citizens had nowhere to go. They could n to flee for safety on the mainland. Their roads were washed out, their power grid destroyed, no fuel, no food. Trump has the ENTIRE ATLANTIC FLEET that could have been mobilized to help PR. Did we see anything? Of course not. PUERTO RICANS CAN'T VOTE.
I have toilet paper with Trump's picture on it. THAT is what he should have thrown to the victims - he certainly did not throw aid.
GET RID OF THIS DISGRACE AT THE MIDTERMS. VOTE anything but Republican - they're all in it together.
59
If you voted for this guy, please, I beg you, take an election off and reevaluate what you hoped then vs. what you've experienced since.
Many people died in Puerto Rico as a result of Hurricane Maria. Their grieving relatives deserve comfort and a commitment to do better. Instead, as the waves rise in the face of Florence, Trump can't get out of ignorant-bully mode.
Our democracy requires an educated voting public; a compassionate and level-headed public, to steer it in a healthy direction. Bullies like Trump, and their minions, destroy everything for everybody, including themselves.
Vote intelligently, I beg you. Or take a basic civics class. Start by looking up 'demagogue' on wikipedia, and the tools they use to manipulate people.
Hmmm...check, check, check.
Yep, that's you.
126
What is a fact?
Defending Alex Jones, who claimed no children were actually shot dead at Sandy Hook, his lawyer asked the reporter if he had actually seen the dead children in the morgue. No, the reporter said. Well, then, Jones's lawyer replied, then you really do not know if Mr. Jones was right or not.
Facts are stubborn things, John Adams said, but not if you demand a standard of "only if you see it happen yourself can you claim you know."
By this standard, Mr. Trump can say unless you were on Puerto Rico when the hurricane hit, you cannot really KNOW who was killed or how many by that storm.
Good bye journalism.
7
This cruel assessment could only come from someone who prevaricated hundreds a times a week.He can not even be trusted to tell the truth about whether the sun is shining.He declared it shone on his inauguration when everyone else had umbrellas for the rain.No wonder his lawyers will not let him talk to Mr.Mueller.He is a congenital liar without the sensitivity to mourn the loss of life of American citizens.
18
This man clearly does not possess a shred of human decency. There is no bar too low that he can't comfortably slither under it. All he can talk about is how great his administration did; meanwhile some parts of the island just got power back.
I don't know if you know any Puerto Ricans, but I do, and they have had an absolutely hellish time. It is a stain on our nation that our fellow American CITIZENS have been treated with such low regard.
32
Had enough? Can’t wait until November!
17
Anyone who reads this "tweet" (on a day when people are beginning to fight for their families & property on the east coast) or the first ones of the day 2 days ago (on 9/11) who does not think this guy is unstable, hyper-narcissistic, and off his rocker is not living in the real world or concerned for the welfare of the nation. Shame on them and the GOP "leadership" in congress.
Meanwhile, Xi & Putin are having bilateral talks right now, planning how they're going to replace the leadership vacuum the U.S. is leaving.
27
The nearly 3,000 souls who died in Puerto Rico are nothing but a conspiracy prop for Donald Trump, who holds the office of President of the United States but commands the respect of no one.
No honorable person would say such an evil thing and hurt the families of the dead, humiliate our country before the world, shame and bewilder Americans who can't believe this horrible man occupies the most powerful office in the history of the world.
Did Trump say this because he's insane? Did Trump say this because he's so evil he sensed a political advantage by making this claim? Should we still concern ourselves with why?
Not one person in the GOP came forward today and said this was indecent, abominable, hideous and that Trump must resign immediately. That was what was needed to end this nightmare. But even this wasn't enough to cause them to speak out, to say enough is enough, that Trump is unfit.
My heartfelt sympathy to the families of the deceased, my fellow Americans, whose memories were today dishonored by the President of the United States as having no value to him except as pawns in one more obscene twisted political reckoning.
I'm surprised he didn't accuse the dead of secretly tapping his phones....
23
Trump politicizing death tolls from Maria in 2017? Just when we thought he couldn't lower the bar any further. Shame on him. And some of us even expected Republicans to speak up against his latest blame-grenade. Is the entire GOP asleep?
Vote them out.
19
Let’s see.....the Russians are hacking into our elections and infrastructure, the Chinese and Russians are collaborating economically and militarily, and Syria and the Russians are slaughtering the Syrian people; and DT obsesses with the death count for a hurricane a year ago because it might make him “look bad.” Is this joker really our president?
18
Presidents who politicize the deaths of innocent people and lie through their teeth while doing so should not be president. America, what is wrong with us to put up with this??? It's so shameful and humiliating.
16
We have a number of things going on with this assault on humanity:
1.Trump is a self involved monster who would walk over dead bodies claiming they were actually a carpet that needed cleaning and he was justified in stiffing the carpet cleaning service.
2. Trump has no understanding of statistics, the scientific method or epidemiology and yet is free to denigrate each and replace them with whatever lies spew from his mouth.
3. Will his “base” ever come round to realizing he would BBQ and eat them just as sure as shoot them from his limo as it cruises up Pennsylvania Ave.?
13
Adding insult to injury on a daily basis seems to be the ONLY thing Trump can do. He is literally, perhaps, the most useless talking head in the country.
15
You know who else lied about disasters resulting in many deaths? The Russians.
19
How dare more people were found dead after he was there...
13
"This was done by the Democrats in order to make me look as bad as possible"
Nobody needs to do anything to make Donald Trump look like a callous fool. He does that all by himself, every day.
295
I was initially shocked to learn that 3,000 people died in Puerto Rico as a result of the hurricanes last year. Reliable, first-hand accounts of the devastation and reporting on the human tragedy that was unfolding over the last few months were incredibly vivid and seemed so real.
Now, I am so relieved to learn, directly from the President of the United States, that “3,000 people did not die” and am honored to learn that he “was successfully raising Billions of Dollars to help rebuild Puerto Rico.” That’s great news!
But, sadly, as we know, this man is very sick and practically anything he says, to borrow a popular term, is “fake news.
20
If I am to understand the President's 'logic' correctly, then my sister's brother-in -law's tragic death early this year was caused by smoke inhalation, NOT by the house fire because when he was pulled out, he didn't have any burns.
Got it.
20
Surely this false claim by Trump is no different to Alex Jones suggesting the deaths at Sandy Hook were a hoax, just on a far larger scale? Let’s hope he is barred from all the social media platforms as a result, starving him of the oxygen of publicity that he craves.
Of course, if any of the alt right “media” (Fox, Brietbart etc) repeat his ridiculous and false claims in a supportive manner, they should also be barred.
25
Those dead actually travelled back in time, to Trump's inauguration, and populated the empty space, making it 'the biggest inauguration crowd Ever. Bigly" Its hard to think of other people's misery when you are building a monument to yourself, all day, every day.
8
This is the scoop. Trump doesn't and didn't care about Puerto Rico. He makes up lies about the casualty rate. He is amoral and doesn't care about anything or anyone except himself. Now...watch closely, he will spend a gazillion dollars on Hurricane Florence because it is hitting one of his biggest bases. Just watch what a savior he will become. Meanwhile, Puerto Rico is still trying to recover.
14
This is just the latest evidence that we have a Denier-in-Chief, rather than a Commander-in-Chief, who has been revealed as incapable and incompetent to perform the duties required to serve and protect all American citizens like those who perished in Puerto Rico on his watch. To try to cover his malfeasance by blaming it on Democrats is just a further immoral insult when we're confronted with another deadly hurricane. And it is criminal that FEMA has denied all by 75 requests for burial assistance of the thousands on Puerto Rico who've applied for it. It all adds up to callousness, coverup, and criminal neglect that may well befall those in the Carolinas as he's reallocated nearly $40 million from FEMA and the Coast Guard just when they're needed to save lives; all to support his equally cruel policy of interning innocent children. Florence may be an out-of-control "monster," but Donald Trump's actions are equally monstrous.
12
Why worry about governing when you can just lie your way out of every situation?
It works great--right up until it doesn't.
10
"This was done by the Democrats in order to make me look as bad as possible..."
Trump is being so uncharacteristically modest here. As he has proven time and again, he is perfectly willing and able to make himself look "as bad as possible" without any help from the Democrats whatsoever.
20
I am sure, aside from the gross incompetence and chronic lying, that moderates and independents are getting sick and tired of the Trump Charade....
11
Americans, please remove this incompetent, ruthless liar besmirching the highest office of the USA now. Impeach or invoke Section 4 of Article 25 of the Constitution! This man is not only a disgrace but an acute danger to the nation and the safety of its citizens.
18
@T. Clark It's gonna take time, a whole lot of precious time, and plenty of money, uh huh, to do it, to do it, to do it, to do it right now!
But we've got our minds set on Trump, we've got our minds set on Trump.
1
Appeal to congress, not Americans. Everyday Americans have no power to remove him. Only the rich, greedy, men and women in office can do anything but they don't. They too want to b re-elected. Like the twitterer, their own well being is their 1st concern also.
3
Must be fake news from P.R.'s fake rural areas and fake old feeble people who are lying liars...
NOT!
One thing most of us agree upon: The storm was responded to by a fake FEMA.
7
Why can't the NYT say that he "falsely accused" and "lied" in the headline? Talk about burying the lede.
43
He's got a point. Many of those deaths were caused by his administrations horribly botched and lax response to the destruction of the hurricane, the lack of power, water, medical care - as opposed to the storm itself.
I don't think that fact makes him look any better - quite the contrary. And in every hurricane, those killed by the effects of the hurricane are always counted in the casualty list.
39
"Mr. Trump said that the toll was only six to 18 dead after his visit following the storm ..."
Could it be: A.) tRump don't count so good? B.) When the populus observed tRump's attitude and behaviour toward them, they off'd themselves C.) tRump don't care D.) All of those choices and more.
Your answers, please.
5
Actually, the number the Trump administration is responsible for is the number who died if the Federal Government had responded more forcefully. There would have been people dying because of Maria even if FEMA had come in with all cylinders running.
1
The bottom line is that Trump views everything from the perspective of himself and how it affects him, his reputation, his ego. It is not new, nor a surprise anymore.
I believe what is finally happening, is that more people are finally coming to realize is that you can't believe anything he says. That includes many of the people who voted for him.
Even when he does the unusual, and says something that is true.
393
@Jane K You are correct Jane but he does have a core fan base that believe anything his says no matter how outrages to them their are two news sources they believe Trump and Dean Hannity of FOX News
2
Why does Trump make comments like this? Because the base LOVES it. Puerto Ricans are de facto foreigners as far as they are concerned and are a kin to murderers and rapists. This shouldn't surprise anyone.
45
I'm sure the present occupant in the White House (I refuse to acknowledge him as the President of the United States) is waiting for the latest hurricane to hit so he can go throw paper towels to the devastated residents in the area. What is it going to take to get rid of this buffoon who got FIVE deferments for "bone spurs" and yet ironically now occupies the most important position in the United States. He has never "served" his country. His only service is to himself. VOTE!
30
America’s Deplorable-In-Chief spits on the graves of more Americans.
Impeach.
Indict.
Incarcerate.
November 6 2018
411
@Socrates
if only we could also IGNORE
Is this dude for real? Seriously.
19
Trump's disconnection from reality worsens each passing day.
This is becoming scary stuff!!
His refusal to recognize the death of 3,000 American citizens is totally increible.
And then: to call it a political lie is nothing short of repugnantly disgusting.
Trump is not fit to be a dog's flea catcher...much less the leader of the world.
Where is Congress? Oh, I forgot---Paul Ryan is looking for a new house back home and McConnell is mum as a mouse; hoping for the whole mess to go away...
Vote on Nov. 6th---there is no excuse to not vote!
24
Fools behave better than trump. What does he have to gain from all his lying?
Is trump merely the public face of a failing political party, a group of misfits that have failed governance? A booming economy is NOT the same as good government.
26
The question is why such obvious deceit is paraded in the media. It seems like the media helps Trump legitimize his many deceitful utterances by covering them as worthy news or debatable points. This is not informative, but legitimization and enabling of lies and intolerance. It’s not journalism, its enabling.
When is the media going to exercise some ethical responsibility by recognizing that it is not “informing” but “promoting” and enabling his intolerance when it claims to cover such utterances “journalistically.”
This is how the Nazis were able to rise in Germany. The media covered them with the misguided notion of informing the citizenry. But to the Nazis who had no publicity at all in the beginning, any mention they got was better than nothing! It only legitimized them and made them worth a second look. What the media is doing is not “informing” the citizenry or doing “journalism.” The media is aiding and abating and enabling and providing a megaphone for these lies and intolerance under the misguided notion that it is “informing!”
Any mention of these lies, especially their presentation as “news” only legitimizes them!! The question is why the media continues to do this.
16
Unfortunately, President Trump was correct when he joked that he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and his supporters would still back him. In fact, I'm convinced he could shoot someone on live television in front of the world's press, and he would then say that the video is fake and doctored, and blame the Democrats and a deep state conspiracy. Every fascist leader knows the power of the "big lie" - just say outrageous lies over and over and over and over again, and a certain segment of the population will (eventually) believe you.
President Trump is very much like a Category 5 hurricane: mindless, amoral, unpredictable, blowing huge amounts hot air that you pray will stop, and leaving a wide path of destruction wherever he goes.
42
Are there no depths to which he can sink? To simply lie about the death toll and blame Democrats for inflating the number as part of an attack on HIM? Of course, it's always about him and no-one else. In his lack of empathy, disregard for the truth, and all-consuming narcissism, the man is a sociopath.
20
Maybe he thinks the death toll only includes Democrats, so that's why he's not counting them. It's about time Mr. Trump started representing the entire country, not just his base. Shame on him!
10
Clearly this man is seriously mentally ill. There is nothing, nothing that isn't about him. He is the ultimate victim. When does this end? What will it take to stop this madness? I feel like a passenger on an out of control bus, trying to grab the wheel before we plunge off a cliff, but the wheel is just out of my reach. How can this 'presidency' continue to be a thing?
38
Never a trace of sympathy or empathy. Ever.
42
In the mind of Trump, Puerto Ricans are not actual Americans, so they did not deserve the same outstanding response that was given to dark-skinned New Orleans citizens following Katrina.....err, never mind.
22
Intellectually I know overt racism exists. But I have lived most of my life with passive aggressive racism, followed by denial, faux shock and extreme saddens from White People when they realize that consequences exists for White people when you call them on their racist behavior.
This day feels like when Donald Trump called a Black woman a dog. My brain sees the Tweet but it doesn’t feel real. Both times my initial response has been “ We’re really doing this?”
16
In the words of Edward Markey, our junior senator here in Massachusetts:
"Only Donald Trump could see the tragedy in Puerto Rico and conclude that he is the victim."
678
@TC We should start calling him Axis. Clearly the world revolves around him.
So, Trump's former head of Homeland Security accepts that nearly 3000 people died in Puerto Rico after hurricane Maria. But, he opines, the deaths may have been correctional not causal. You know caused by heart attacks. This man ran DHS? Another of Trumps "best" cabinet heads, I guess. Maybe this guy can get courses in logic, statistics, and epistemology now that he has free time. Bring along DeVos and Perry too - more of the Trump brain trust. Now, let's see what Trump's top-flight team can do with Florence's havoc. Baton down the hatches Wilmington.
16
Clearly 3,000 Puerto Ricans died just to make him look bad. His enemies will stop at nothing.
141
Of course everything is about Donald Trump and how people (Democrats in this case) try to make HIM look bad. That’s why he will never learn anything and is unfit for the office he holds. Sad for us.
9
Unbelievably heartless and unacceptable response from President Trump. How can he possibly say that the numbers were inflated to make him look bad? The study was commissioned by the governor of Puerto Rico. Do the results make him look GOOD?
Any unbiased observer can see that the local government has been inept in its response to this disaster and officials on the island are not exactly in a position to point fingers. However, the federal government appears to have been scarcely better. When you know that the situation on the ground is not being handled too well, it is necessary for Washington D.C. to do more, not less. Remember the sign on Harry Truman's desk?
In any case, for the president of the nation to tweet like this about the needless deaths of hundreds of people is sickening.
635
@Ganesh S
More than hundreds. Maybe thousands.
1
@Ganesh S
Unfortunately, Trump is not an inbiased observer.
@Ganesh S, if our government treated Puerto Ricans like the American citizens they are, with appropriate tax revenue and political support, the situation on the ground there would be much different. Undermining and under-funding Puerto Rico have been going on for a long time, so it's not completely Trump's fault, but it is for continuing it. And then to totally misrepresent what happened there is nauseating and unforgivable.
He knows it’s not true. He spouts his lies because he knows they will stick as sound bites, and his base has no interest in reading past the headlines to uncover the truth.
25
So the president is incapable of incorporating new information if it does not add to his personal sense of greatness and infallibility? We expect better of 10 year-old children...
11
This is simply more of the same from our President. Paired with the mildly tepid response from leaders and members of the President's party, I am are left with feeling a near bottomless pit of disappointment from our leaders. This type of behavior is akin to cowardice.
The people of Puerto Rico deserve so much better, and their government appears committed to giving them as little as possible. Lies like this make this tragedy a profound disgrace: We clearly could have handled the rescue & assistance post-Hurricane Maria altogether differently. Lies like this, and now not standing up for the truth, only amplify the despicable nature our inaction.
13
I can't believe that this has been made a Democrats issue. why can't we all just agree that loss of human life is sad and work together to change the way we respond to natural disasters in American territories? I don't understand why the president can't see that he's only making himself look worse by denying the people grieving and rebuilding.
12
History is going to be very, very unkind to this President. In the meantime, we have a leaderless government and there will continue to be many preventable deaths as a result.
47
For a stable genius, he sure struggles with numbers. Whether it's the largest crowd ever at his inauguration or the tiny fraction of the population to die after a monumental natural disaster. No wonder his tax returns are not for public consumption.
589
Trump is neither stable, nor a genius.
5
@GMS
I heard his tax returns are written in crayon.
3
How much proof does Trump's staff and Congress need to prove that he's mentally incapable of hearing or understanding the truth? He's not mentally fit to be president. Invoke the 25th amendment and let the system deal with the Constitutional crisis if there is one.
29
This man's malignant narcissism is an impediment to his ability to do the job the Electoral College selected him to do. It is time to invoke the 25th amendment.
26
@Jasr
If the Electoral College had done their job, he wouldn't be President.
5
This is yet another low point from our Commander in Chief. Politicizing a tragedy and sowing doubt over its severity. I appreciate the article starting by calling out the false comments over Twitter.
475
@Aaron
The low point was reached when the gerrymandered Electoral College handed the Presidency to an incompetent uneducated boor. 3M more Americans voted for his opponent; it is way past time to elect Presidents with a national vote; the EC is a remnant from Reconstruction when population count for the purpose of vote counting in slave States included slaves who did not vote. This was a gift from Northern States where mills depended on Southern cotton. A national vote would have put a qualified, experienced woman in the WH. The South has dominated Congress for decades delaying voting rights and civil rights for black citizens whose taxes helped pay for those who denied them the vote. Now those rights have been established, so we have suspect registration practices and voting machinery owned by private corporations. Voting is the only real power we have to influence how we are governed. If we don't address this issue, a permanent cynicism regarding government will be the outcome. A free Republic cannot be sustained without honest government.
4
I urge Mr Trump to not trust any filters. He should travel to the island again; and this trip he could stay longer than 1 news cycle and actually talk to the PR authorities, to get the straight truth.
71
Trump was there, he threw paper towels, he has no Trump property on the island. He’s not going back. And if he did, he would only meet with people who were willing to say what a wonderful job he was doing. Might be hard to find in a place that was without electricity for a year.
11
@MrOpheus
What would that accomplish? The folks are already dead. And what makes you think that anything the PR authorities have to say would even register with him?
1
@MrOpheusWith all due respect: Trump is not concerned with the truth. Or the lie.
ONLY with himself.
4
Advice to those who actually do want to make Trump "look bad" -- vote on November 6th for Democratic candidates, and for those few moderate Republican candidates who put country and the common good (and common sense) before Trumpism.
No excuses! VOTE Trump's enablers out of office.
235
@Mark Hugh Miller
There are moderate Republicans? And they are on the ballot? Where might that be?
2
@Joe From Boston - well, Joe, I was just trying to be real bipartisan, you know. Your point's taken.
Why today. Could the storm being so close affecting his thought process. It was a year ago and now in the mist of another hurricane what is he even thinking about it let alone talking and twitting about it. We may just be lucky as Democrats to get more votes because of his ranting and vengeful rampages as his GOP Party lets it happen.
24
The Trumpster doesn't need the Democrats or anyone else to make him look bad - he's doing a magnificent job of making himself look terrible all by himself, but then he's had lots of practice.
31
It's alarming when even deaths are partisan. I feel very bad for my countrymen in Puerto Rico. I feel very bad for the people in the Carolinas. I feel even worse when it occurs to me that the President doesn't.
858
@Chris W: you are just figuring out that Trump and Co. do not care about Puerto Rico? Just now? Are you all listening to the corrupt congress? The only good Republican is a dead Republican, because I used to know some, and they have shuffled off this mortal coil. It is not just dems in opposition, it is the rest of the actual Real citizens of the USA who understand our history and are appalled by our grubby fellow citizens who are afraid the devil incarnate will pull the plug on their brokerage accounts. So they will vote out of fear for the devil incarnate and flush the USA down the porcelain receptacle. We have no good people left in power; the very worst are the richest, endowed not by their creator but by an extremely corrupt Congress with the ability to pursue ways to make the little guy pay tax while they pay nothing. And let victims of hurricanes poach in the flood while they pretend to be humanitarian in photo ops.Time for Revolution!
3
This is just sick and despicable, an incredible affront to the victims and survivors of Maria and every other hurricane before and after. Trump's mental instability was on full display this morning.
For Carolinians, it should be zero comfort to know the president couldn't care less about how they fare because whatever the reality is that befalls them, it will be lied about.
135
@Suzanne Moniz
As opposed to Puerto Ricans, North Carolininians probably don't have to worry too much about that- most of them voted for him.
6
What a glass bowl.
9
This is shocking, even by Trump's standards. This accusation is patently false, and speaks more to Trump's severe mental illness than to any empirical evidence backing up this contention. With millions facing a calamity on the Southeast coast of the U.S., Trump chooses today of all days to unleash another psychotic diatribe. He is a danger to this country and to the entire world. He needs to be institutionalized immediately and given the appropriate treatment commensurate with his level of psychosis. On behalf of the decent people of the United States, we apologize for the horribly inappropriate statements made by Trump. We are wholly embarrassed and you, the residents of Puerto Rico, deserve better. We all do.
91
@H. Clark
Malignant Narcissism is not a treatable condition.
6
Meet the President who is not ashamed to lie about human tragedy in order to stroke his own ego.
117
So we're supposed to believe Trump who has lied over 4,200 times within the past 18 months? Get real!!!!!!!!!
24
@susan
He's a liar so yes, it's believable. The only thing I'm surprised about is that the number is so low - only about 4200 times?
5
@susan — You’re right. The number is probably at least twice as high.
7
As always, he's the victim. Perfected to an art!
69
The headline ought to read, "Trump accuses Democrats of telling the truth".
177
Another lie to add to the very, very, very long list of nonsensical words coming out of the Liar’s pie hole.
18
Or died from lack of emrgency care, or lack of fresh water, or lack of electricy to power medical devices or lack of available access to medical care related to an existing medical problem. Yah, that sound like inflated numbers. I mean it wasn't like getting hit by a falling tree so, "doesn' count".
Flagrant lying and gas lighting are his first and last option with every utterance, it seems like.
35
He makes it up as he goes. And why not - his base will believe anything he says. Anything.
123
I think he has outdone himself. Three thousand dead, and fearless leader sees it only in terms of himself. Reality is an inconvenience to be brushed aside. I’m not just offended, I’m scared. Please please vote for a Democratic Congress like your life depends on it—it might.
7
@Oisin
And that is the core of our national crisis.
The fact that our president is psychologically unstable, incapable of resisting his impulse to fabricate reality and hopelessly egomaniacal is problematic. However, this dilemma is manageable.
25th ammendment. Impeachment.
The fact that Trump’s base, for reasons unclear, have elected to define our current president as a “great man” who has “accomplished wonderful things” for our nation is a disaster of the first order.
Tens of millions of voters who buy into every excuse offered, ignore The Great Leader’s endless lies, and choose to view Trump as a victim of grave injustices.
These people are the true threat to American democracy.
Trump is just one delusional lying nut case. He’s the POTUS, but he’s just one terrible mistake.
Trump’s base is a herd of bleating sheep, armed with handguns and very, very flimsy logic. They are the center of our national nightmare.
9
@Oisin
May I remind you that his base is very small (36%) compared to the rest of sane America.
We just need to get our like minded friends and family properly registered and out to vote!
Enough is enough. Vote out of the party of hoodlums and liars this November. Get impeachment rolling. Get this fool out of office.
28
"Rejecting Puerto Rican Death Toll, Trump Accuses Democrats of Inflating It"
Should be:
"Trump Lies About Puerto Rican Death Toll, Falsely Accuses Democrats of Inflating It"
How hard is that?
1068
@josie
Amen!
3
@josie The word 'rejecting' implies at least some deliberation, which is something he never does.
He intentionally has a shoot-then-aim mouth, because he's not interested hitting the target, only in trying to discredit those looking for the truth of the matter by spraying lies everywhere.
2
I agree. NY Times - start printing headlines the way things are!
1
If you consider that the racist incomPOTUS likely views each Puerto Rican as 1/500th of a person, then his math works.
What a pitiful excuse for a human being!
27
My only hope is that Americans recognize Trump's continued insensitivity, understand this is not acceptable in our President, and vote BLUE IN NOVEMBER.
85
Mr. Doug Miller made Trump look "as bad as possible" as if that was impossible.
4
@Flxelkt
Mr. Doug Mills... sorry
So the one person in the world that doesn't know how to add, subtract, multiply or divide has decided that the numbers were inflated.
Well if there is anybody that knows about inflating things it is Trump, he inflates his ego, the crowd at his inauguration the national debt, the cost for him and his family's secret service details in other words just about anything he gets involved in.
He's been doing it since he came into this world, and without a doubt he will continue to do it until he leaves this world.
47
Trumps statement that only 6-18 people died in Puerto Rico and that the figure of 3000 is Democratic Party plot is the moral equivalent of holocaust denial. There is no way that he would minimize this death toll if he perceived these people as white, as I am sure he will not in regard storm heading for the Carolinas. There are people who come on here and ask "When has Trump ever done anything racist?" Well, I think we will see his response to Puerto Rico's anguish as equivalent to his hero Andrew Jackson's murder of the Cherokee, and yes that was Racist.
23
There are tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans -- that is, AMERICANS -- who are now on mainland United States. While in Puerto Rico, they couldn’t cast ballots for voting members of the US House and Senate. Now they can and, oh, they will. Get ready, America. November 6th is just around the corner.
158
@Brigid McAvey Perhaps to thwart this very possibility, the Trump Administration recently stopped providing vouchers for temporary housing for victims displaced from Puerto Rico by Maria.
7
While human life is certainly vulnerable to strong winds, storm surges, falling trees, flying debris, and flooding during a hurricane, we are much more vulnerable, storm or no storm, to breakdowns in our life-sustaining infrastructure: medical care, drinking water, food, shelter, communication. Politicians underestimate this. It is, for example, why they sometimes speak so lightly of war.
17
This pathetic person masquerading as a president gets more and more despicable as time goes on. It's just beyond belief what this liar will say. We knew he was irresponsible with regard to lacking presidential qualities, for not taking control of the hurricane in Puerto Rico. He's biggest "achievement" was throwing out paper towels to the people gathered at one of his press conferences. To add insult to injury, he's now denying the horrific numbers of people who died in the hurricane. Is there anything this man-child will not do or say that surprise us anymore? This denial of the deaths of Puerto Ricans is beyond belief - for a president or a human being!
328
Florence is beginning to batter the Carolinas, and Trump wastes time calling the victims in Puerto Rico fake news?
Be wary, Carolinians. If any of you end up victims of the storm, Trump will say you never existed!
112
Breaking news!
President trump has clarified his earlier statement that that reports of PR casualties have been inflated by Democrats.
He can provide indisputable evidence that the claimed 3000 casualties "just had the wind knocked out of them".
Thank heavens they are really all right. MAGA!
11
The man has zero empathy or compassion. Very dangerous in any situation, especially for someone in a position of such power, responsible for the lives of millions, if not billions, of people. Such a patently inappropriate person for the position. How anyone could have voted for such a sorry excuse for a human being is mind-boggling.
His narcissism is as breathtaking as it is bottomless. The abject stupidity of his supporters is astounding.
Heckuva job, heckuva job.
586
Blame the Republican Party for allowing him to run and blame the Electoral College for ratifying the crooked result.
3
@Earthling. Don’t forget we have midterms an opportunity to vote away all the Congressmen and women and Senators that are enabling or are silent with Trump. THEY are crippling America.
Wow. Well put.
As much as I dread the prospect of a Pence presidency, Article 25, Section 4 seems more apt each day.
165
At least Pence will not start WE 3 on a whim or alienate all of our allies and befriend dictators and murderers. Other than that, they both think only white men should have any rights (preferably land owning white men).
8
@Sidney Ford
Milqtoast Pence would surely not embarrass our nation every single day.
Another low. Trump makes a hurricane political. Vote this man and his thug administration out of office.
88
Yep, and the sun rises from the west and the world is flat.
31
@JayKaye I would guess that many of this thug's supporters believe in the second of your stated points.
7
This just in:
In a subsequent tweet about the number of deaths in Puerto Rico caused by Maria, President Trump denies that Maria ever reached hurricane status, asserting that it never got stronger than a tropical wave. He claims that the extensive damage on the island in the aftermath of Maria was the result of deliberate vandalism by Puerto Rican residents who were attempting to procure undeserved Federal aid for the island.
And in a related tweet, President Trump denies that Senator John McCain actually died, claiming that his memorial service and funeral were staged by Trump's enemies in an effort to divert attention away from Trump. Trump added that if Senator McCain had actually passed away, Trump obviously would have been invited to his funeral.
277
@Jay Orchard Your first paragraph almost prompted me to check Twitter to see the tweet, because it was written in language that sounded perfectly Trumpian. It was only when I read the second paragraph that I realized this was snark. And even the second paragraph isn't entirely impossible.
12
@Jay Orchard
Bravo!
4
One bright spot: no one who received a roll of the paper-towels that he passed out in that photo-op has died. Not one.
28
And I thought his handing out paper towels was both idiotic and inconsequential. Guess I was only half right.
4
Three dead or three thousand, does it really matter how many? How petty can one be?
We don't need to compare the death toll to Pearl Harbor or 9/11 to make it a tragedy.
70
For any rational thinking person, trump's own words and actions condemn him. Who but a fool would give any weight to his claims?
174
@Tommy Bones-Fox Entertainment News.
3
There are no words at this point. The usual words - shocks the conscience, malignant narcissism, congenital liar, unfit for office, lower than low, pure evil - simply aren’t enough.
697
I like to read (view?) a web site that throws in some profanities. Yes, it’s sophomoric but it’s quite satisfying.