Donald Trump Can’t Stop Attacking Puerto Rico’s Death Toll

In a pair of late night tweets, the president suggests thousands of deaths were fabricated “like magic.”

Lenin Nolly/ZUMA

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Late on Friday night, President Donald Trump continued his baseless public assault on the officially adopted survey saying nearly 3,000 Puerto Rican residents died after Hurricane Maria.

The Washington Post story briefly quoted by the president calls his insistence that the number was inflated “a false claim” and his contention that it was constructed by Democrats as “falsely claiming a conspiracy.”

The president’s attack comes after George Washington University’s Milliken School of Public health issued a statement standing by its research, which was commissioned by the island’s government.

Our results show that Hurricane Maria was a very deadly storm, one that affected the entire island but hit the poor and the elderly the hardest. We are confident that the number—2,975—is the most accurate and unbiased estimate of excess mortality to date.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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