President Donald Trump has made many vile and offensive statements. Ask anyone in America what they think is the worst thing he’s said and there’s probably a good chance they’ll be able to come up with one.
But denying the hurricane-related deaths of 2975 Americans may be the most inhuman remark President Trump has ever uttered. And the fact he did it the morning before a major deadly hurricane is about to hit the Eastern United States makes it all the worse.
Earlier Thursday morning President Trump took to Twitter to say, “3000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico.”
Except, they did.
A Harvard study found “4645 excess deaths” due to the hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico. In fact, the study’s authors say “this number is likely to be an underestimate because of survivor bias.”
But the official study by George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health finds 2975 people died because of the hurricanes.
That independent study’s results have now become the official death toll, according to the government of Puerto Rico.
By comparison, there were 2977 victims who died on 9/11.
1833 people died during Katrina.
Meanwhile, President Trump’s tweets, his sheer denial of the deaths of “3000” people, have caused tremendous outrage and hurt.
Some shared personal stories of the family members they lost in Puerto Rico as a result of the Trump administration’s failures.
And many others expressed outrage.
Photo: Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. Image via Wikimedia.