GOP lawmaker tears into Trump's 'warped mind' after tweet questioning Puerto Rico death toll

[orangecrush]

Source: The Hill


Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) on Thursday slammed President Trump over his tweet claiming that statistics showing that nearly 3,000 were killed in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria were falsely inflated.

Ros-Lehtinen said that Trump has a "warped mind that would turn this statistic into fake news" about himself, according to The New York Times' Deputy Washington Editor Jonathan Weisman.

"It might be a new low," she said, according to Weisman. "Boy that's saying something ... "How could you be so self-centered and try to distort the truth so much?"

Trump's accusation came in a pair of tweets Thursday morning, in which he disputed a report commissioned by the Puerto Rican government that found the death toll from last year's hurricane season was 2,975, up significantly from its original count of 64.

Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/thehill.com/homenews/house/406469-gop-lawmaker-tears-into-trumps-self-centered-warped-mind-after-tweet%3famp

[Achilleaze]

1. Wow, a repube actually acknowledges the republican liar-in-chief for his lies

amazing

[slumcamper]

3. Need to wonder. R-FL: disingenuous pandering to new Puerto Rican voters??

[hedda_foil]

8. I think she's leaving at the end of this term.

[PatSeg]

9. Yes, she is retiring

[BigmanPigman]

15. That explains it.

The only ones to ever speak up against him are leaving ......they are all cowards and frauds.

[PatSeg]

22. Exactly

Republicans have no political courage whatsoever. You'd think the possibility of losing an upcoming election was the end of the world.

In Australia, when they passed strict gun legislation, members of Parliament knew supporting the bill was a huge political risk, but they voted for it anyway. When asked about it, one legislator who lost his seat said he had not regrets, because it was the right thing to do.

There is life after congress and if politicians aren't willing to take a risk by doing what is right, perhaps they are in the wrong occupation. It is not like any of them will starve if he have to leave DC.

[BigmanPigman]

24. The GOP has proven that they

are self serving sociopaths who don't care about anyone or anything except for their personal bank account and power (just like the moron). They have NO self respect and do not care if anyone else respects them either. We knew they were like this for the past few decades but since the election it has been proven to be
a 100% accurate assessment.

[PatSeg]

25. I never really agreed

with republicans in most respects, but I thought many of them really believed what they said about the economy, the deficit, the military, small government, family values, etc. Turns out they don't believe in anything. They are far worse than I could have ever imagined.

[BigmanPigman]

26. Ditto!

[riversedge]

6. She has stood up to Trump on several occassions.

[OKNancy]

7. Like all the Repubs who are retiring.

The only ones who say anything are not running.

[dajoki]

10. But they aren't saying enough n/t

[alwaysinasnit]

20. The trouble is not that they are not saying enough, it is that there is no action after all that

hot air. Words are cheap.

[CatWoman]

2. again

the only ones we hear from are those who are about to retire

[tblue37]

4. And they still support him with their votes. nt

[riversedge]

5. "The George Washington University study, requested by the governor of Puerto Rico, examined an unusu

Of, course, Trump does not believe in science, nor would he believe the scientific study even if it was shoved into his pee brain!




The George Washington University study, requested by the governor of Puerto Rico, examined an unusually long period of time following the storm in an attempt to detect the hurricane’s lingering, indirect effects on mortality.


.....Trump’s tweets — which came as a highly dangerous Hurricane Florence churned toward the Carolinas — brought an immediate rebuke from Democrats in Congress.


“Only Donald Trump could see the tragedy in Puerto Rico and conclude that he is the victim,” said Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.). “May God bless the souls of the nearly 3,000 Americans that died in Puerto Rico and may he take pity on your soul, Mr. President.”

San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, who publicly pleaded with Trump for a stronger response to the storm, also blasted the president on Thursday in a series of tweets.

“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!” she wrote.

The George Washington University study, requested by the governor of Puerto Rico, examined an unusually long period of time following the storm in an attempt to detect the hurricane’s lingering, indirect effects on mortality.

The investigation looked at the total number of deaths from September 2017 through February 2018, and compared it with typical death rates, adjusting for many variables, including the hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans who evacuated the territory after the storm struck on Sept. 20.

The findings were embraced by the government of Puerto Rico as the study was released...........................

[Botany]

11. Over 900 bodies were cremated after the hurricane .... wiki

During a press conference on October 3, 2017, President Donald Trump applauded the low death toll—at the time the government only certified 16 deaths—and claimed it was nothing like the "catastrophe" caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. San Juan Mayor Yulín Cruz harshly criticized Trump as "killing [Puerto Ricans] with the inefficiency [of relief efforts]. Following the visit by Trump, concerns over political motivations in the handling of relief efforts surged. The magnitude of devastation proved to be an unprecedented challenge for relief efforts by the Army Corps of Engineers and FEMA. Senator Kamala Harris claimed that "the government failed Puerto Rico at every level in the wake of Hurricane Maria".

Between September 20 and October 18, the island's only medical examiner authorized 911 bodies for cremation; however, they were not physically examined and simply given "natural causes" as the cause of death.[15] Official statistics showed increases of about 20% and 27% in overall fatalities in Puerto Rico during September 2017, compared to 2016 and 2015, followed by a decrease of about 10% in October 2017 compared to the previous two Octobers.

snip

Through at least June 2018, hundreds of unclaimed bodies remained in morgues, and the island's primary morgue was "overflowing" with them.[13] A total of 307 bodies were stored at the San Juan morgue and four refrigerators in a nearby lot. Staff shortages resulting from budget cuts further complicated the situation as bodies were unable to be processed in a timely fashion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Maria_death_toll_controversy

[dchill]

14. Threadworthy.

[Botany]

16. Go ahead and start one .... the info is from wikipedia

n/t

[SayItLoud]

12. From a RePUBE in Fla

Where there are many new Puerto Rican voters due to being displaced by the hurricane. Doesn't want to lose their support! But other RePUBICS? Crickets.
VOTE Blue or we keep what maniac we have in the Oral Office and will get AND DESERVE 10x more!

[Ligyron]

18. FL Governor Scott dared to respectfully disagree also.

He's term limited and running for a Senate seat in FL now, so of course.

How brave of him.

We're hoping this new influx of PR's tilts the scale against marginal Republican control in this state. Be ironic and perfect Karma if they had any part in bringing down Trump by getting another D vote for impeachment into the Senate.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

13. Here's proper trimmed link. Or maybe you want Google to know your every move online.

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/406469-gop-lawmaker-tears-into-trumps-self-centered-warped-mind-after-tweet

Please trim links. I trimmed off the front part including "amp/", and the end (the "%3famp&quot .

[certainot]

17. limbaugh was defending trump a few minutes ago saying the studies were

bullshit, made up (like global warming and russian collusion)

he says the number 3000 was probably chosen to associate it with 911

and in a few days trump will probably repeat it, like millions of russian tweeters

[tclambert]

19. Well, you know Trump saying, "fake news" translates into English as "truth that embarrasses me."

[Paladin]

21. Ros-Lehtinen, making a proper response. There's a first time for everything.

Yet another Repube who discovered their ability to stand up to trump, now that they're retiring.

[Vinca]

23. Republicans are much braver when they're retiring.

[Eliot Rosewater]

27. I dont get it. This comment about PR is no different than everything else.

He is IMPRISONING CHILDREN IN INTERNMENT CAMPS

And these same people are silent

[Midnightwalk]

28. More on the study

I've been thinking about how the 3000 dead can be attributed to the botched response and wondered if the study shed any light, so I read some of it.


[link:http://publichealth.gwu.edu/sites/default/files/downloads/projects/PRstudy/Acertainment%20of%20the%20Estimated%20Excess%20Mortality%20from%20Hurricane%20Maria%20in%20Puerto%20Rico.pdf|

Didn't read all or even most. It's been a busy day. I learned some new things and have some new questions


The study covered September 2017 through February 2018. Power and water weren't fully restored. Is there any study that covers longer? Is 3000 a low number?

The study used mortality rates. It took into account displacement from Puerto Rico using transportation and airline data to calculate an excess mortality rate. I was surprised to learn 8% of the population migrated

A lot of the study deals with improving the death certification. Apparently certificates covered where the cause was directly caused by the storm, drowning, flooding, struck by debris, structural collapse etc. Thats why the official estimates were low (64). Apparently CDC has better guidance that wasn't used following natural disasters.

The excess mortality rate continued through the time covered by the study. 1271 through October, 2098 through December, and 2972 through February. That's about 900 every 2 months for the last periods covered. The rate doesn't seem to have dropped by the end of study.

The rate was highest in the lowest socioeconomic group. Also among older groups. It isn't clear to me how much of that is due to ability to migrate away vs the aid given to different areas.

Sorry if this is not interesting to anyone else or if I got any of this wrong. I don't do stastistics but I like numbers. Making it a reply in this thread because I can't start one yet.

It is a disgrace and the study confirms to me what I had thought. The bulk of the deaths were due to the horrible reponse.

[orangecrush]

29. Thanks!