Trump’s False Tweets on Hurricane Maria’s Death Toll
In a pair of early morning tweets, President Donald Trump rejected Puerto Rico’s official estimate of 2,975 hurricane-related deaths after Hurricane Maria and, in the process, made some false and misleading claims:
- Trump said that “3,000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico,” putting the number at “anywhere from 6 to 18 deaths.” Puerto Rico initially estimated that there were 64 deaths caused by the hurricane, but it has since accepted an independent estimate that there were 2,975 hurricane-related deaths over about six months.
- Trump falsely claimed the higher death estimate “was done by the Democrats in order to make me look as bad as possible.” The independent study was commissioned by Puerto Rico and done by researchers at George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health.
- Trump also misrepresented the study’s methodology, claiming it counted deaths “for any reason, like old age.” The study took into account the usual number of deaths that could be expected from September 2017 through February 2018, after the hurricane, and found there were an estimated 2,975 “excess” hurricane-related deaths.
- The president claimed he “was successfully raising Billions of Dollars” for Puerto Rico when the report was released. The White House did not respond to our requests for an explanation of what Trump meant by that comment.
Blaming Democrats, Faulting Methodology
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