Donald Trump Denies That Nearly 3,000 Puerto Ricans Died From Hurricane Maria Aftermath

Donald Trump is now rejecting the figures being reported by his own government.
In an effort to support his Tuesday comments that Hurricane Maria relief in Puerto Rico was “an incredible, unsung success,” the president denied that 3,000 people died in the aftermath of the natural disaster, contrary to reports.
Related: Trump Redirected Millions In Hurricane Relief Money To ICE
Earlier this month, Puerto Rico’s governor officially raised the death toll from Hurricane Maria from 64 to 2,975. The staggering change reflected a George Washington University study that accounted for island residents who suffered due to the heat and other lasting effects of the storm.
Multiple outlets, including CNN, reported similar numbers — so it’s sadly no surprise that Donny completely rejected these figures this week, without evidence. He wrote in a tweet Thursday morning:

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) September 13, 2018

His latest tweet falls perfectly in line with the rest of his comments on the subject — in that they vastly contradict those of locals and experts.
While Trump has praised his administration for its “incredibly successful” handling of Hurricane Maria, San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz has blasted the government for failing to provide appropriate assistance in the aftermath of the storm.
In a second tweet Thursday, Trump claimed that the new death toll was more fake news cooked up by Democrats and that he actually raised “Billions of Dollars” to help rebuild the island, writing:

…..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) September 13, 2018

On the contrary, researchers found that after Maria, the U.S. territory underwent an elevated number of heart attacks, bacterial infectious diseases, suicides, and deaths over a lack of access to insulin. Puerto Rico was also without power for months.
But hey, at least they had plenty of paper towels.
[Image via Dutch Press Photo/WENN.]