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On Thursday, President Donald Trump falsely accused Democrats in a pair of tweets 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. With no evidence to support his claim, the president denied the hurricanes last fall resulted nearly 3,000 deaths of Americans in 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 (@realDonaldTrump) 13. September 2018 In a second tweet Thursday, Trump cast blame on Democrats, who he said are trying to make him look bad. .....This was done by the Democrats in order to make me look as bad as possible when I was successfully raising Billions of Dollars to help rebuild Puerto Rico. If a person died for any reason, like old age, just add them onto the list. Bad politics. I love Puerto Rico! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 13. September 2018 It was unclear which Democrats the president was referring to, though he has fought with San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, a member of Puerto Rico's Popular Democratic Party, over the federal government’s hurricane response. She responded to Trump's tweet, saying "YOUR LACK OF RESPECT IS APPALLING!" This is what denial following neglect looks like: Mr Pres in the real world people died on your watch. YOUR LACK OF RESPECT IS APPALLING! pic.twitter.com/OJEDqT74Sr — Carmen Yulín Cruz (@CarmenYulinCruz) 13. September 2018 The death toll study was commissioned by Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, a member of Puerto Rico's New Progressive Party. It was conducted by George Washington University's Milken Institute School of Public Health. Rosselló said the Puerto Rican government is "confident" in the results of the study and that he has no reason to believe the estimate was part of an effort by Democrats to undermine the President. Prior to the GWU study, independent investigations conducted separately by The New York Times, Penn State University and Harvard University also estimated Maria’s death toll to be in the thousands. After his tweets, top Republicans broke from Trump's assessment. House Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters on Thursday he has "no reason to dispute those numbers." "Casualties don't make a person look bad, so I have no reason to dispute these numbers," Ryan said. Florida Gov. Rick Scott also split from Trump and disagreed with the president publicly on Twitter. I disagree with @POTUS– an independent study said thousands were lost and Gov. Rosselló agreed. I've been to Puerto Rico 7 times & saw devastation firsthand. The loss of any life is tragic; the extent of lives lost as a result of Maria is heart wrenching. I'll continue to help PR — Rick Scott (@ScottforFlorida) 13. September 2018

You searched for: Carmen Yulín Cruz/

Donald Trump Rejects Puerto Rico Death Toll, Accuses Democrats Of Inflating Figures

Donald Trump Calls His Response To Hurricane Maria In Puerto Rico An ‘Incredible Unsung Success’