Trump Touts Geraldo Comments on Puerto Rico Death Toll: ‘70% of the Power Was Out Before the Storm!’

President Donald Trump yesterday said he doesn’t believe the Puerto Rico death toll, and today he continued to stand by that position by touting comments from Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera.

During a segment on The New York Times and media bias, Rivera had this to say regarding Puerto Rico:

“They’re saying all these people died in the storm. 70% of the power was out before the storm! So when did people start dying?! When was it on Hurricane Maria? Was it when the power went out?… At what point do you recognize that what they’re doing is a political agenda couched in the nice language of journalism.”

And a little over an hour later, the President tweeted this:

“They say all these people died in the storm in Puerto Rico, yet 70% of the power was out before the storm. So when did people start dying? At what point do you recognize that what they are doing is a political agenda couched in the nice language of journalism?” @GeraldoRivera

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 14, 2018

This, of course, comes on the heels of all this:

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

This week Rivera tweeted that it “pisses me off” to see people blaming Trump for the death toll and that Puerto Rico deserves more than “political sniping”:

pisses me off watching commentators blaming @POTUS for 3000 hurricane related deaths in #PuertoRico these folks Never wrote or reported anything about PR. There is total ignorance or avoidance of fact power grid was in chaos Power Authority bankrupt & corrupt before #Maria hit.

— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) September 11, 2018

Care deeply for my beloved #PuertoRico dad Cruz Rivera 1 of 17 kids & worked sugar cane plantation. Many relatives still live on island. Their travails during Hurricanes Irma & Maria-trees thru roofs-power lost-inflicted mainly by corrupt criminaly inept bankrupt power authority

— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) September 14, 2018

BTW on my paternal grandma’s side, we trace our heritage to now extinct Taino Indians-island’s original residents-off-shoot of Carib Tribe. I’m 10% aboriginal-Puerto Rico is in my blood. It needs more than political sniping-It needs finally to be not possessed but accepted by USA

— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) September 14, 2018

You can watch the clip above, via Fox News.

[image via screengrab]

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