One Year After Hurricane Maria Hit Puerto Rico, Trump Denies Tragedy

FEATURING JULIO LÓPEZ-VARONA – It has been 1 year since Hurricane Maria hit the island of Puerto Rico. Various studies have put the death toll anywhere between 2,975 to more than 4,000 making it one of the nation’s deadliest natural disasters in history.

But, President Donald Trump earlier this week deemed the federal government’s response “an unsung success.” Then, on Thursday morning he went further in his denial of reality by rejecting the official death toll of nearly 3,000 deaths from the hurricane. He tweeted, “3000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico.” He added in a second tweet, “This was done by the Democrats in order to make me look as bad as possible.” It is not clear if he is deliberately lying hoping that his supporters will not notice, or that he is truly unaware that Puerto Rico’s Governor Ricardo Rosello ordered the study that concluded 2,975 people died.

Julio López-Varona, Co-Director of Community Dignity Campaigns at the Center for Popular Democracy

Visit www.populardemocracy.org and www.1yearaftermaria.com for more information.