BREAKING: Pres. Trump rejects independent study that reports an estimated 2,975 people died in Puerto Rico in 5 months after Hurricane Maria; provides no evidence to discount the study; declares, without evidence, that the higher death toll is political ploy to make him look bad.
— NBC News (@NBCNews) September 13, 2018
I know there's a lot of competition but this is the worst thing he's ever tweeted. https://t.co/szjPKKxzhK
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) September 13, 2018
You better believe, I blame the entire Republican party. And so will Sekhmet, Goddess of Consequences.
Just talked to a conservative GOP staffer. He thought it was shameful/insane for Trump to engage on PR by lying about the death count, but he also didn’t think it would matter much. “Nothing sticks to him.”
The guy is at 40% with a good economy. Everything *has* stuck to him.
— Matt Glassman (@MattGlassman312) September 13, 2018
The Trump tweet everyone is RTing, denying, 3000 deaths in Puerto Rico, is wrong. Here's the story. I get the impulse to RT when the POTUS is tweeting something nuts, but don't just assume "everyone knows it's not true" when spreading his disinformation. https://t.co/0MTUbdSSOJ
— James Poniewozik (@poniewozik) September 13, 2018
The fraction of the country that knows more Americans died from Maria than Katrina is about to skyrocket.
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) September 13, 2018
Wherein the president dismisses the official government of Puerto Rico death count from the 2017 hurricanes and their aftermath as a political plot against him.
Apparently of the belief that the death toll is about him and not about approximately 3,000 dead American citizens. https://t.co/dfZgojf8G4
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) September 13, 2018
So what he's saying is he went to Puerto Rico carrying a mysterious virus that killed 3,000 people
— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) September 13, 2018
Trump says Dems manufactured the 3,000 death toll from the hurricane in Puerto Rico last year “to make me look bad.” For those who ask if he really believes this, the answer is yes. https://t.co/N3wJPZianj
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) September 13, 2018
What’s crazy is the idea a surge in deaths AFTER the initial hurricane somehow lets the government off the hook rather than indicates a failure to respond to the aftermath.
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) September 13, 2018
Aside from everything else that's shameful about Trump's Puerto Rico tweets, he's tweeting about himself and his image AS ANOTHER HURRICANE IS MAKING LANDFALL.
— Schooley (@Rschooley) September 13, 2018
are you telling me that the guy who lied about cleaning 9/11 rubble and was happy his building was now the tallest doesn't understand the emotional importance of 3,000 people dying? Really?
— Atticus Goldfinch (@AtticusGF) September 13, 2018
It’s basically the Sandy Hook conspiracy applied to a natural disaster. This is why it matters when the president is a conspiracy theorist whose staff has to keep him from Alex Jones.
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) September 13, 2018
everyone forgets when Roosevelt said "the events of December 7th were tragic, but you know, Hawaii is really out there, what are we supposed to do"
— Tim Murphy (@timothypmurphy) September 13, 2018
the biggest victim of hurricane maria turns out to be donald trump. the people who died, it was their time. https://t.co/Srqf7uNe4n
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) September 13, 2018
Major Major Major Major
It’s sunny, muni is working, and I just had a weirdly good job interview. Suspicious that something awful is about to happen. (To me, not the southeastern United States. You guys stay safe!!)
debbie
Last I heard, the clown is claiming only three or four deaths. Even Paul Ryan, Whore of Whores, is slamming Trump for this.
Mnemosyne
Man, when John Podhoretz pwns you …
trollhattan
Manafort plea?
Zinsky
I have always doubted that Hell exists as a real, tangible place. Since Donald Trump was (kinda) elected President, I have come to sincerely hope there is such a place, because I feel certain Trump would have a very scaldingly hot metal throne waiting for him there!
debbie
@trollhattan:
I’m mostly worried about him getting a pardon.
zhena gogolia
Maggie, I don’t give a flying you-know-what whether or not he believes it.
MobiusKlein
@Zinsky: Hell is other people.
Well, turns hell is one _specific_ other person.
The Dangerman
25(th) Ways To Lose Your Presidency
/half paul simon
Baud
See, y’all are making the mistake of assuming Trump is using your definition of “people.”
Mnemosyne
@zhena gogolia:
Of course he believes it — he’s a toxic narcissist. He will believe anything that helps him shore up his self-image, no matter how ridiculous.
Along those lines, though, I’m really tired of the media acting like everyone’s stupid conspiracy beliefs have to be respected. Almost 3,000 people died in Puerto Rico (that we know of!) and I don’t give a shit who does or does not believe that it happened. We really need to stop letting the right wing debae actual facts with us.
Mary G
This is scary:
Putting off spending on infrastructure only works so long. Hope all the jackals in the area are safe.
Ghost of Joe Lieblings Dog
I get way too angry when I see NYT reporters pretending to be The Voice of Sanity responding to this hideous administration.
Where were they during the campaign?
The NYT could hardly have done a worse job if it had been based in Susquehanna and had never employed anyone who had ever set foot in NYC or heard of a search engine.
If they had acted like reporters for a major paper based in Mango Mussolini’s home town then, they might deserve respect now. They didn’t, and to me it feels like they don’t.
Gravenstone
To Atticus Goldfinch in the op: those 3000 deaths were brown people. Not even human, let alone American to Trumpenstein.
randy khan
@zhena gogolia:
At a certain level, you should care whether he believes it. If he doesn’t believe it, it’s just a shameless, awful political ploy. If he does believe it, the best case is that he’s really stupid and doesn’t understand how the study was done and worst case is that he’s delusional. (I’m tilting toward the worst case, given everything we’ve seen since 2015.) Those are much scarier options.
ruemara
he is the antithesis of decency.
ruemara
@Ghost of Joe Lieblings Dog: They don’t
Gelfling 545
@Zinsky: His whole administration makes me long for a Judgment Day in which I do not believe but feel would be fitting.
Kay (not the front-pager)
@debbie: A pardon is unlikely to affect criminal or civil forfeiture. And losing all that money just might feel worse to him than jail.
And I suspect he has also committed tax fraud in NY and VA, among other crimes. Doddering Donnie can’t pardon him for those crimes.
MattF
I emphatically agree with Josh Barro– now everyone knows about and is talking about the awful death toll in Puerto Rico from Maria. Trump is pretty much the only person who could have accomplished that. Aside from, y’know, all those treasonous, lyin’ and mean Democrats.
FelonyGovt
Just when you thought he couldn’t possibly be more despicable. People in hospitals died because there was no power. He acts like if the person didn’t drown in the initial onslaught, it “doesn’t count”.
Gravenstone
@Gelfling 545: If not for the actual innocent populace of DC and environs, I’d definitely root for a well placed meteor.
zhena gogolia
@Gelfling 545:
My husband is in the happy position of believing in it. He keeps saying, “They’ll get theirs.” hahaha
dmsilev
@Mnemosyne: Could be worse. Has he been owned by Jonah Goldberg yet?
Gelfling 545
@FelonyGovt: When, actually, those are the few he is NOT responsible for. The weather event took them. The rest- they’re on him.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
This fucking guy… What else is there to say? This fucking guy…
FelonyGovt
@Gelfling 545: EXACTLY.
veniceriley
Is Manafort co-operating or Papadopoulosing?
Gemina13
A friend remarked last night about Trump, “Every time I think He’s hit rock bottom, he starts to dig.”
Would that I could walk up to *45 and smack him with an oosik, just for the pleasure of reading this sebtence: “Donald J. Trump was publicly subdued with a walrus dick.”
different-church-lady
Well, yes, you can’t make things stick to slime.
Hungry Joe
@Mnemosyne: Yup. 3,000 deaths would mean he is not The Most Bigly Wonderful at Everything, so his desiccated brain made the necessary (small) chemical changes, and presto! — only a few people died. And that is The Truth.
Mnemosyne
@randy khan:
Toxic narcissists like Trump are not delusional, per se. For them, reality is strictly subjective and they can change it at any time to suit themselves, because they’re just. that. awesome.
As I understand it (and IANA mental healthcare professional), you can talk to someone who is delusional and they can explain their whole delusion to you because, while it may make no sense to anyone else, it makes sense to them.
A narcissist will change what they claim to believe half a dozen times if challenged, because what they believe is that reality is whatever is most convenient for them at that moment.
It’s absolutely maddening to deal with in real life because there is no center. It’s just whatever is most convenient/least threatening to the narcissist, updated minute to minute.
Or, as many other people have said, it’s like dealing with a toddler in an adult body with an adult vocabulary.
Hungry Joe
@dmsilev: No one has ever been owned by that oleaginous, intellectually flaccid toad Jonah Goldberg. The guy’s got nothin’. “Liberal Fascism.” Please.
Jack the Second
@debbie: Manafort is going to spend the rest of his life waiting for Putin to poison him and trying to figure out how to access any assets he has stashed to pay off any unsavory folks whose good graces he needs to stay in. I’m betting a pardon is meaningless if it doesn’t come from Vlad, and I think Vlad likes losers who get caught even less than Donny.
Uncle Cosmo
Death tolls:
Andrew – 65
Sandy – 285
Katrina – 1,833
Maria – 2,978 (PR only)
9/11 – 2,977 (excluding hijackers)
Fuck Twitler.
Damon
IT DOESN’T MATTER. He will continue to do what he does and not get challenged.
Nothing changes if nothing changes
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
@Mnemosyne: Counsel for toddlers would like a word. And adult vocabulary is entirely too generous; a slow fifth grader is more realistic,IMHO.
Uncle Cosmo
@Uncle Cosmo: Um, Maria – 2,975 in PR, 3 on mainland US. Mi dispiace.
Catherine D.
So I voted earlier today in the NYS primary. Weird to do it on a Thursday! Our local ballot was nearly 2 feet long because of all the candidates – it didn’t fit in the privacy folder! The poll worker babysitting the machine told me they all were taught the 14 steps needed to clear the long ballot if it jammed. Fortunately none had so far, about 4 hours in.
Go Zephyr Teachout!
MagdaInBlack
@Mary G:
Im just now chatting with a friend who lives in Lowell, next door to Lawrence, where her grandson lives.
MagdaInBlack
jonas
@Catherine D.: I found, after checking my registration status a few weeks ago and seeing everything was good to go, found I had been struck from the rolls this evening. I’ve lived in this town 8 years, never moved, never changed party affiliation, voted in nearly every goddamn election, including for the school board. Had to submit a provisional ballot. Grrrr! My county election board will be hearing from me tomorrow. And yes, go Zephyr!
MagdaInBlack
I give up trying to post links.
Catherine D.
@jonas: Yikes! What county? Suspicious bitch that I am, I have been carrying the Board of Elections primary postcard I got last month. Guess I’ll keep the one for the general as well.
PST
I thought the Benjy Sarlin point was especially acute:
There was essentially nothing anyone could do to reduce the number of deaths during the hurricane from drowning, collapsing buildings, or blows from flying objects. That was the short-term count. The measure of failure is the excess deaths over time of people who could not get to medical care, could not get clean water, or could not escape the heat. Trump is highlighting his failure.
Tinare
@Zinsky: I keep thinking that I actually have died and this reality is just my personal hell.
CliosFanBoy
@Gravenstone: maybe when he’s at his golf course. preferably with Pence
Buck
I just fucking hate him so much.
PaulWartenberg
@jonas:
get the lawyers. sue the whole Republican Party. They are intentionally violating everyone’s civil rights with their voter fraud BS.
это курам на смех
I’d rather use a bat’leth.
hilts
@PST:
Trump’s ignorance never ceases to amaze. If Hell exists, he and his entire fucking family deserve to rot there for eternity.
TriassicSands
Trump doesn’t need to be the “best president ever” (even my cat, Annie, is laughing at that one), not when he’s got the “Biggest Victim in the Universe” nailed down. There are currently more conspiracies out to get Mr. A+ than there have been plots to get every other president in our history — combined. But the brave and gallant Donald soldiers on. Undaunted by Democrats making up fake statistics for Puerto Rico, courageous in the face of ultra-leftist Robert Mueller’s witch hunt, and determined not to give up after super-commie Woodward’s made-up hatchet job, Donald is an inspiration to us all.