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Puerto Rico’s governor to Trump: ‘No reason to underscore the tragedy’
The Hill ^ | 09/15/18 | MORGAN GSTALTER

Posted on 09/15/2018 6:28:53 AM PDT by yesthatjallen

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló tore into President Trump on Friday as he continued to deny a scientific study which found that 3,000 people died on the island following a series of hurricanes last year.

“Mr. President — I’d very much be willing to walk you through the scientific process of the study and how @Gwtweets arrived at the excess mortality number estimate. There is no reason to underscore the tragedy we have suffered in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria,” Rosselló tweeted.

“In the meantime, I hope you consider sending a message of support to show you stand with all of the US Citizens in Puerto Rico that lost loved ones. It would certainly be an act of respect and empathy,” he continued.

Rosselló’s rebuke came after Trump doubled down on his claim, saying there was “no way” the death toll was that high after casting doubt on the researchers at George Washington University (GWU).

During a Friday night tweet storm, Trump said he was originally told the death toll following Hurricane Maria last fall was 16.

“Over many months it went to 64 PEOPLE. Then, like magic, ‘3000 PEOPLE KILLED,’” Trump wrote.

Rosselló also issued a scathing statement when Trump said his administration’s response to the hurricanes in Puerto Rico was an “unsung success” and “one of the best jobs that’s ever been done” with respect to emergency response.

“The historical relationship between Puerto Rico and Washington is unfair and unAmerican,” Rosselló said. “It is certainly not a successful relationship.”

Rosselló called on Trump to extend federal coverage for the housing restoration and clean-up that is still ongoing on the island.

“This was the worst natural disaster in our modern history,” he said. “Our basic infrastructure was devastated, thousands of our people lost their lives and many others still struggle.”

"Now is not the time to pass judgement; it is time to channel every effort to improve the lives of over 3 million Americans in Puerto Rico," he added.

Trump also this week claimed — without evidence — that Democrats inflated the death toll in Puerto Rico to make him look bad.

“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!” he tweeted Thursday.

Rosselló last month updated the government's official death toll for Hurricane Maria to match the results of the study commissioned from GWU.

"We stand by the science underlying our study which found there were an estimated 2,975 excess deaths in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria," GWU's Milken Institute School of Public Health said in a statement this week. "We are confident that the number — 2,975 — is the most accurate and unbiased estimate of excess mortality to date."

The study reached its death-toll figure by comparing estimates of typical non-disaster death rates over six months to the actual mortality rate in Puerto Rico six months after the storm. A number of studies have found that the number of people who died as a result of the hurricane's impact was much higher than the number originally counted lost during the storm itself.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: hurricanemaria; trump
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To: yesthatjallen
then publish ALL THE DATA AND THE MODEL for all the world to see...
41 posted on 09/15/2018 7:37:02 AM PDT by Chode ( WeÂ’re America, Bitch!)
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To: OrioleFan
Scary and true , radical left wing billionaires are pouring millions here
Drop this topic about a year old storm .
The Dems own the media folks .
We need to focus on todays issues and our good news .
42 posted on 09/15/2018 7:37:37 AM PDT by ncalburt (Gop DC Globalists out themselves ever w)
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To: DesertRhino

Puerto Rico would be as down and out as Nicaragua or Cuba or Venezuela if it weren’t for being a U. S. territory. The socialists,like their founders, are ungrateful to the ones who have fed them.


43 posted on 09/15/2018 7:42:59 AM PDT by KDF48 (Redeemed by Christ.)
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To: yesthatjallen

“The historical relationship between Puerto Rico and Washington is unfair and unAmerican,” Rosselló said. “It is certainly not a successful relationship.”

Rosselló called on Trump to extend federal coverage for the housing restoration and clean-up that is still ongoing on the island.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxlxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The dummie insults Trump and then opens his hand. I’m all for PR getting their independence from the US.


44 posted on 09/15/2018 7:45:51 AM PDT by McGavin999 ("The press is impotent when it abandons itself to falsehood."Thomas Jeffersons)
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To: yesthatjallen

Perhaps we should just let go of Puerto Rico, and let it “twist in the wind”, so to speak.


45 posted on 09/15/2018 7:47:41 AM PDT by windsorknot
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To: ncalburt

That’s is my point exactly. I checked his twitter and last two tweets are 57 states and Puerto Rico. Meanwhile parts of North and South Carolina are underwater...


46 posted on 09/15/2018 7:49:03 AM PDT by ALX
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To: ALX
You are right .
We need to avoid the Left Wing Media Quicksand traps like this.
PR is old news and he should stay on topic involving todays issues .
We need to stay focused on important matters.
47 posted on 09/15/2018 7:57:55 AM PDT by ncalburt (Gop DC Globalists out themselves ever w)
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To: dforest

FEMA is handing out cash for funerals. So what do you get? Thousands of claims. I expect most of these 3000 were part of the natural death rate for Puerto Rico. But since cash can be had, they are all declared hurricane related, and will be as long as cash can be had. I doubt FEMA does much verification because that would be callous and racist. Much easier to just to pay the claims.


48 posted on 09/15/2018 7:58:09 AM PDT by Stevenfo
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To: yesthatjallen
So let me get this straight. PR has had successive Democrat governments that have effectively bankrupted the government of the island. It has $70Billion in debt which it can never repay. Because they are bankrupt their electrical infrastructure is obsolete and the roads and bridges are falling apart. There are little or no emergency funds for natural disasters because the government is corrupt and inefficient. Because the electrical system is obsolete and the roads falling apart Federal assistance can't get to outlying areas and the injured can't be transported to hospitals causing the death of a large number of people.

Obviously it's Trump's fault !

49 posted on 09/15/2018 8:00:35 AM PDT by Timocrat (Ingnorantia non excusat)
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To: Stevenfo
Fema did not fund this study .
Fema is not using it.
The PR govt funded the study.
50 posted on 09/15/2018 8:05:19 AM PDT by ncalburt (Gop DC Globalists out themselves ever w)
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To: yesthatjallen

Aren’t these numbers then used to get relief funds from FEMA? Puerto Rico needs to be cut loose from the US. Their corruption is astounding.


51 posted on 09/15/2018 8:12:48 AM PDT by Lopeover (POTUS needs Republicans, the Midterm Election is about allegiance to the America First agenda!)
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To: Lopeover

These LIB LUNATICS in puerto rico are dishonest. Then, they have the gall to criticize President Trump for pointing out their lies. What corrupt liars and losers. The Hell with these chronic liars.


52 posted on 09/15/2018 8:20:12 AM PDT by hal ogen (First Amendment or Reeducation Camp?)
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To: yesthatjallen

Maybe we’ll need a Puerto RICO Act by the time this is over.

Sooo much corruption...


53 posted on 09/15/2018 8:37:56 AM PDT by DoughtyOne (01/26/18 DJIA 30 stocks $26,616.71 48.794% > open 11/07/16 $215.71 from 50% increase in 1.2183 yrs)
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To: StAnDeliver

You got that right. Trump will never stop giving it to the real enemy of the people- the media and the left ( which are one and the same)


54 posted on 09/15/2018 8:39:41 AM PDT by ohioman
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To: yesthatjallen
"Now is not the time to pass judgement"....he added.

Really? Sounds like you're passing judgement with that statement governor.

55 posted on 09/15/2018 8:47:56 AM PDT by SoFloFreeper
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To: yesthatjallen

No more money for Puerto Rico. Their corrupt government is responsible for a significant portion of the damage by failing to maintain adequate infrastucture. Following the hurricane it was corrupt PR officials who hoarded material sent by the US for the citizens. That witholding of necessary supplies is accountable for how many deaths?

Cast not thy pearls before swine lest they trample them under foot then turn on you to tear and rend you.


56 posted on 09/15/2018 8:53:59 AM PDT by gspurlock (http://www.backyardfence.wordpress.com)
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To: yesthatjallen

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said 12,000 people died in North Carolina - - yesterday - - from Hurricane Florence...


57 posted on 09/15/2018 8:58:44 AM PDT by GOPJ (Deep State power peaked during the McCain funeral - it's down from here on out.)
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To: yesthatjallen

“””He’s pointing out how ‘academia’ (George Washington University) created these numbers out of estimates and models, something that has never been done before, and the Democratic Media Complex reported them as fact.”””


The Puerto Rico death count is nothing but another insurance policy conjured up by the anti-Trumpers with the intent of releasing the study when the next hurricane hit the USA so they could use it to damage Trump.

I have noticed in many reports about the Florence hurricane that they include “oh by the way, 3000 people died last year in Puerto Rico due to Trump and FEMA not doing their job’.


58 posted on 09/15/2018 9:02:57 AM PDT by Presbyterian Reporter
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

“””You know what this is all about? Flipping Florida.”””


Totally agree. The intent is to get the Puerto Ricans to vote. If a Puerto Rican lives in Puerto Rico, their vote is pretty much useless. But in Florida the Puerto Rican vote is very important for the Democrats.

That is why Ron DeSantis and Rick Scott have been quiet. No sense stirring up the Puerto Ricans who have moved here.


59 posted on 09/15/2018 9:07:32 AM PDT by Presbyterian Reporter
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To: yesthatjallen

Over 6 months
They are counting people who died of heart attacks and other health conditions months after the hurricane as storm victims
As if it’s Trumps fault and OUR fault as taxpayers


60 posted on 09/15/2018 9:58:10 AM PDT by silverleaf (A man who kneels for the national anthem doesn't stand for much of anything)
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