Facing renewed criticism over his recent glowing reviews of the government’s handling of Hurricane Maria, President Trump on Thursday made a series of unsubstantiated claims casting doubt on the revised death toll officially declared by Puerto Rico‘s government late last month.
Interested in Donald Trump?
Add Donald Trump as an interest to stay up to date on the latest Donald Trump news, video, and analysis from ABC News.
“3000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico. When I left the Island, AFTER the storm had hit, they had anywhere from 6 to 18 deaths. As time went by it did not go up by much. Then, a long time later, they started to report really large numbers, like 3000,” he tweeted Thursday.n
“This was done by the Democrats in order to make me look as bad as possible when I was successfully raising Billions of Dollars to help rebuild Puerto Rico. If a person died for any reason, like old age, just add them onto the list. Bad politics. I love Puerto Rico!”
d politics. I love Puerto Rico!”
3000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico. When I left the Island, AFTER the storm had hit, they had anywhere from 6 to 18 deaths. As time went by it did not go up by much. Then, a long time later, they started to report really large numbers, like 3000…
— Donald J. Trump September 13, 2018
…..This was done by the Democrats in order to make me look as bad as possible when I was successfully raising Billions of Dollars to help rebuild Puerto Rico. If a person died for any reason, like old age, just add them onto the list. Bad politics. I love Puerto Rico!
— Donald J. Trump September 13, 2018
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
President Donald Trump speaks during the Congressional Medal of Honor Society reception in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., Sept. 12, 2018.
San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, who has been in a war of words with Trump over the federal response to Hurricane Maria, shot back minutes later Thursday morning.
“Mr Trump you can try and bully us with your tweets BUT WE KNOW OUR LIVES MATTER,” she tweeted. “You will never take away our self respect. Shame on you!”
Mr Trump you can try and bully us with your tweets BUT WE KNOW OUR LIVES MATTER. You will never take away our self respect. Shame on you!
— Carmen Yulín Cruz September 13, 2018
Late last month Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello announced the territory was officially revising its death toll to 2,975 from 64 after the government commissioned an independent study by George Washington University School of Public Health.
While President Trump’s contention in his tweet that 3,000 didn’t die “in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico” is not technically inaccurate, the study never claimed to measure based on such a metric. It instead focused on the number of excess deaths in the six months following Maria’s landfall.