Rejecting Puerto Rican Death Toll, Trump Accuses Democrats of Inflating It

President Trump on Thursday falsely accused Democrats of inflating the death toll from Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico last year, rejecting that government’s assessment that the storm had claimed nearly 3,000 lives.

Mr. Trump said that the toll was only six to 18 dead after his visit following the storm, but that was at a time when the estimate of fatalities was changing. It rose to 34 in the hours after the president left the island. Mr. Trump on Thursday said Democrats padded the death toll by including, for example, a person who died of old age “in order to make me look as bad as possible.”

Source

While the Carolinas brace for Hurricane Florence a new independent study has been released that states the death toll in Puerto Rico due to Hurricane Maria comes in at almost 3,000. The results of this study have been accepted by both the government of Puerto Rico and the Republicans and Democrats of Congress.

Despite this near unanimous acceptance, Trump has taken to Twitter to claim it's all a ploy by the Democrats to make him look bad. Of course the Trump administration has been criticized for their response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico for the past year. The fact that power wasn't fully restored to the island until last month would seemingly reinforce this claim.

Trump's claim has not only drawn the ire of Dems but even Republicans are calling him out over this. They perceive Trump's words as an attempt to politicize tragedy. Which, of course, is absolutely abhorrent.

So ATS, what are your thoughts on this? Is Trump actually right? Or did he go too far in trying to make himself look good?

How many people die every year in Puerto Rico? Historical comparison of deaths year to year is where you start the investigation.

People actually believe Trump facts?

Yes, I know they do, but it doesn't make it true.

a reply to: Xcalibur254

The current death toll is because they have a crappy corrupt government in Puerto Rico that spent more on mansions for the elite than keeping up their infrastructure.

So a lot of the deaths afterwards were because of not planning ahead for something that was going to happen.

Trump didn't do that... their own government did.

For the last 30 years, the Puerto Rican government has been completely inept at handling regular societal needs, so I just don’t see it functioning in a crisis like this one. Even before the hurricane hit, water and power systems were already broken. And our $118 billion debt crisis is a result of government corruption and mismanagement.

The governor Ricardo Rossello has little experience. He’s 36 and never really held a job and never dealt with a budget. His entire administration is totally inexperienced and they have no clue how to handle a crisis of this magnitude.

For instance, shortly after the hurricane hit, the government imposed a curfew from 6 pm to 6 am and then changed it. Now, it’s 7 pm to 5 am, and makes no sense. The curfew has prevented fuel trucks from transporting their loads. These trucks should have been allowed to run for 24 hours to address our needs, but they have been stalled, and so we have massive lines at gas stations and severe shortages of diesel at our hospitals and supermarkets.

New York Post Linky

So he's right to call foul on this one.

originally posted by: Xcalibur254

President Trump on Thursday falsely accused Democrats of inflating the death toll from Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico last year, rejecting that government’s assessment that the storm had claimed nearly 3,000 lives.

It's not a false claim unless proven to be false. It's baseless, because he did not provided any proofs to back his claims. So there's this difference, but I believe you know that already.

Mr. Trump said that the toll was only six to 18 dead after his visit following the storm, but that was at a time when the estimate of fatalities was changing. It rose to 34 in the hours after the president left the island. Mr. Trump on Thursday said Democrats padded the death toll by including, for example, a person who died of old age “in order to make me look as bad as possible.”

Seeing the latest attempts of the Democrats to undermine Trump I find this very possible.

From another source

Puerto Rico's governor last month raised the U.S. territory's official death toll from Hurricane Maria from 64 to 2,975 after an independent study found that the number of people who succumbed in the sweltering aftermath had been severely undercounted.

The estimate of nearly 3,000 dead in the six months after Maria devastated the island in September 2017 and knocked out the entire electrical grid was made by researchers with the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University. The study says the original estimates were so low because doctors on the island had not been trained to properly classify deaths after a natural disaster.

The elderly and impoverished were hardest hit by the hurricane.

Trump has a conspiracy mind, knowing all he has been through so far I kinda understand him. The study could be rigged.

I won't say he's right on his claim only because I support him. But I will do say that the deaths are not on him, no matter what the left MSM BS feeds you. It's all on Puerto Rico crappy government.

a reply to: vinifalou

You are easy.

he really is despicable. I can't imagine how the families of the deceased feel hearing him praise himself on a job well done.

god damn, he is such a puss.

glad to see some supporters breaking away from him on this.

I’m sure Trumps lies are great consolation to the families of the 3,000 imaginary dead people.

originally posted by: roadgravel
People actually believe Trump facts?

Yes, I know they do, but it doesn't make it true.

Liberals who always scream, Trump is not my president, shouldn't care what he says. Right?

So did the hurricane kill these people or the piss poor handling of the crisis by the Puerto rican government?

Trump sent money and emergency supplies and the locals dropped the ball.
They deserve more blame than the hurricane.

a reply to: roadgravel

Not trying to be hard.

At all.

Either way we do know for certain that the official fema estimate of 68 deaths is not correct either cause such events do indeed put stress on everyday life for weeks and months to come.

The whole argument stems from the fact that the parameters for measuring such are not universal and until we all agree on the same parameter there will be discrepancies.

Using average death toll rates is a good idea as another member pointed out.

originally posted by: Bluntone22
So did the hurricane kill these people or the piss poor handling of the crisis by the Puerto rican government?

Trump sent money and emergency supplies and the locals dropped the ball.
They deserve more blame than the hurricane.

Who owns that government?

Passing that buck is like throwing a boomerang.

originally posted by: Bluntone22
So did the hurricane kill these people or the piss poor handling of the crisis by the Puerto rican government?

Trump sent money and emergency supplies and the locals dropped the ball.
They deserve more blame than the hurricane.

Could not agree more. I live here and experienced first-hand the incompetence of the central government, specially when dealing with the rural areas of Puerto Rico. Most of the funds and supplies were witheld and rerouted to the capital San Juan.

It is a disgrace that the opposing party are using this to criticize the Presiden.

a reply to: howtonhawky

Even using the death rates isn't a perfect indication.

If somebody died because of infection 6 months after the hurricane hit and there are antibiotics sitting in a store room on the island. Does that death come as a result of the storm or the lack of organizational control by their government?

Where or when can we draw the line?

a reply to: Bluntone22

link

a reply to: vinifalou

It's not a false claim unless proven to be false. It's baseless, because he did not provided any proofs to back his claims. So there's this difference, but I believe you know that already.

Trumps comments have already been proven false. All it takes is a reading of the methodology used in the study.

PDF of Study

If I recall correctly, a huge number of the deaths were related to NOT HAVING ELECTRICITY where it was medically necessary post-Maria. That's not attributable to a poorly run island so much as it is not buckling down and getting power back up ASAP afterward, both the island's government AND the federal government are culpable for that.

I triple dog dare Trump to go to PR and say it's an overinflated death toll in person to everyone there. Betcha he doesn't make it off the island ever again.

People are being too hard on Trump.

History will be written that he stood on the windward side of the island during the storm and blew so hard it pushed the hurricane away. So instead of 18 deaths there would have been 6,000 to 12,000, maybe every soul there.

All I see from this site these days, is that Trump supporters get dumber/more ignorant each day.

It's really scientifically fascinating.