Rick Scott Disputes Trump’s Puerto Rico Hurricane Death Toll Tweet, Gets Attacked By Angry Trump Supporters
Earlier today, President Trump took to Twitter to dispute Hurricane Maria death estimates, accusing the Democrats of “reporting really large numbers, like 3,000,” in an effort to make him look “as bad as possible.”
President Donald Trump’s reportedly misguided, inaccurate tweet caused a lot of controversy, attracting scrutiny from journalists, politicians, and the American public. As the Inquisitr reported, Trump’s denial of the official death toll from Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico was described as “warped,” “absurd,” “vile,” and “grotesque.”
But, it is not only Democrats and journalists that are criticizing Trump. Florida Governor Rick Scott, who is the Republican Party’s nominee for Senate in the state, disputed Trump’s controversial tweet, causing Trump supporters to viciously attack him, Raw Story reports.
“I disagree” with President Trump, Scott tweeted, “an independent study said thousands were lost and Gov. Rosselló agreed. I’ve been to Puerto Rico 7 times & saw devastation firsthand. The loss of any life is tragic; the extent of lives lost as a result of Maria is heart wrenching.”
This tweet, apparently, did not sit well with hundreds of Trump supporters, who proceeded to attack Scott for defying President Trump and citing official data. Some observed that Scott is “falling for a liberal trap,” while others outright accused him of being “just another liberal,” according to Raw Story.
One individual even accused Scott of having “all the socialist bots commenting to this post.”
An analysis of the Puerto Rico death toll by the Washington Post called Trump’s claims “grotesque,” and asserted that the president’s argument that those who died of old age were just “add[ed] onto the list” is simply wrong since there is no list.
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
…..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
According to the Washington Post, some research indicates that the actual death toll of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico is around 4,000.
Stated like a politician running for a Senate seat. Trying to degrade @POTUS, who is under constant attack for EVERYTHING, doesn’t need someone he has helped tremendously trying to stick it to him. Not a good look on you @ScottforFlorida!
— Carol ?? (@CarolJordanWill) September 13, 2018
Evidently, official data and research about Hurricane Maria death toll in Puerto Rico are not enough to change the minds of many Trump supporters, who seem willing to stick with the POTUS no matter what.
In a Psychology Today essay, citing peer-reviewed research, cognitive scientist Bobby Azarian outlined five major psychological phenomena that could explain unprecedented loyalty and tribalism among Trump supporters: authoritarian personality syndrome, social dominance orientation, prejudice, intergroup contact, and relative deprivation.
The New York Times compared the behavior of Donald Trump’s core base to that of a cult, alleging that the Republican Party had been transformed, by the POTUS, into a cult of personality. According to the NYT, Trump’s grip on the Republican psyche is “unusually powerful by historical standards,” and the entire Republican Party is starting to revolve around one person.
