On September 15 of 2018, Donald Trump sent out a series of tweets:
“‘When Trump visited the island territory last October, OFFICIALS told him in a briefing 16 PEOPLE had died from Maria.’ The Washington Post. This was long AFTER the hurricane took place. Over many months it went to 64 PEOPLE. Then, like magic, ‘3000 PEOPLE KILLED.’ They hired....”
“....GWU Research to tell them how many people had died in Puerto Rico (how would they not know this?). This method was never done with previous hurricanes because other jurisdictions know how many people were killed. FIFTY TIMES LAST ORIGINAL NUMBER - NO WAY!”
“.....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!”
Here’s what one can deduce from these statements, in simple terms:
1. He blatantly denies the death of more than 3000 people
2. He interprets a fact as a personal attack
However, this is not the first time the President of the United States has said such statements, especially though social media. For example, he endorsed a voter fraud conspiracy theory, tweeting "In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally”. He has also frequently labelled media outlets that have criticized him as “fake”, while naming the conservative Fox News as “real”. Trump’s problematic use of false claims faced illicit backlash after his impromptu news conference of in Charlottesville, in which he also defended those who attended the rally by saying, “But not all of those people were neo-Nazis, believe me. Not all of those people were white supremacists, by any stretch.”. This was an obvious false statement, as the organizer of the event himself, Jason Kessler, told the Associated Press that the event was more “about an anti-white climate within the Western world and the need for white people to have advocacy like other groups do.”
Trump has been called out for stepping over boundaries, but his recent comments managed to cross another. To understand the magnitude of the denial, one would have to understand the wrongness of his statements.
The research on Hurricane Maria’s death toll is completely reliable. Trump was referring to the latest death toll estimates made by researchers at George Washington University. The first phase was published on Aug. 28, and found a midpoint of 2,975 excess deaths in the six months— this number is actually lower than a study conducted by Harvard, which found a midpoint of 4,645. The study also did not include people who had died for "any reason, like old age,”. Otherwise, the number would have been significantly higher— the study found that there were actually 16,608 total deaths during the six months that followed Hurricane Maria. It did try to determine a number of “excess” deaths, which are deaths that wouldn’t have occurred if the hurricane hadn’t hit. Furthermore, those involved in the study have denied any political interference from any party. Yet, Trump insists that the relief effort was an “an incredible, unsung success.”
Alexia Fernández Campbell from Vox stated in her article that “Had Trump actually read the report, he would understand that researchers relied on widely accepted statistical science, death records, mortality data, and household surveys.” However, Trump’s issue of false claims extends beyond the lack of knowledge. The Independent claims that Trump has made 4,229 false or misleading claims since he became president, which is “an overall average of nearly 7.6 claims a day”. At the most powerful position in the government, it is not hard to imagine that Trump could have been easily briefed regarding the death toll numbers by his aides. Trump’s refusal to accept facts, and interpretation of them as personal attacks instead, is what makes those actions dangerous.
“I hate to tell you, Puerto Rico, but you’ve thrown our budget a little out of whack.” Trump told local officials when he first arrived to the stricken island. Even though he might have used that statement in a joking manner, it can still reflect potential consequences if Trump continues to deny facts he does not want to believe. It is a simple idea— if Trump is willing to believe that thousands of deaths have not occurred, while denouncing it as a personal attack, what else is he willing to deny? If Trump refuses to fund support to issues simply because he is blinded by his ego, the costs can be devastating.
Trump is privileged. He is a straight white male. He is also rich, having inherited the wealth of his father, who was one of the biggest real estate developers in New York City. He is essentially the most privileged a person can be in the American society. Trump also has a history of attacking those who are underprivileged. He has repeatedly insulted illegal immigrants, calling them “rapists” and people with “problems”, and that they bring “crime” despite there being no evidence that immigrants commit more crimes than native-born Americans.
Trump is privileged, shown to hold stereotypical views, and has now shown to be blinded by his ego. This may seem to be detached from the argument, but he is, after all, the man with the most political power in one of the most influential countries, that also happens to have the most powerful military in the world. His character will have an immediate impact on his decisions, which very well significantly influence global dynamics.
And perhaps the most appalling fact revealed about Trump’s character in these comments is his complete lack of human decency. He essentially declares a 9/11-sized death toll as the new standard for success, and completely disregards 3,000 deaths and all of the victims and their pain to make himself feel better.
An “I love Puerto Rico!” by no means is enough to make up that amount of disrespect.
Alice Qin
“‘When Trump visited the island territory last October, OFFICIALS told him in a briefing 16 PEOPLE had died from Maria.’ The Washington Post. This was long AFTER the hurricane took place. Over many months it went to 64 PEOPLE. Then, like magic, ‘3000 PEOPLE KILLED.’ They hired....”
“....GWU Research to tell them how many people had died in Puerto Rico (how would they not know this?). This method was never done with previous hurricanes because other jurisdictions know how many people were killed. FIFTY TIMES LAST ORIGINAL NUMBER - NO WAY!”
“.....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!”
Here’s what one can deduce from these statements, in simple terms:
1. He blatantly denies the death of more than 3000 people
2. He interprets a fact as a personal attack
However, this is not the first time the President of the United States has said such statements, especially though social media. For example, he endorsed a voter fraud conspiracy theory, tweeting "In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally”. He has also frequently labelled media outlets that have criticized him as “fake”, while naming the conservative Fox News as “real”. Trump’s problematic use of false claims faced illicit backlash after his impromptu news conference of in Charlottesville, in which he also defended those who attended the rally by saying, “But not all of those people were neo-Nazis, believe me. Not all of those people were white supremacists, by any stretch.”. This was an obvious false statement, as the organizer of the event himself, Jason Kessler, told the Associated Press that the event was more “about an anti-white climate within the Western world and the need for white people to have advocacy like other groups do.”
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| (via Creative Commons) |
Trump has been called out for stepping over boundaries, but his recent comments managed to cross another. To understand the magnitude of the denial, one would have to understand the wrongness of his statements.
The research on Hurricane Maria’s death toll is completely reliable. Trump was referring to the latest death toll estimates made by researchers at George Washington University. The first phase was published on Aug. 28, and found a midpoint of 2,975 excess deaths in the six months— this number is actually lower than a study conducted by Harvard, which found a midpoint of 4,645. The study also did not include people who had died for "any reason, like old age,”. Otherwise, the number would have been significantly higher— the study found that there were actually 16,608 total deaths during the six months that followed Hurricane Maria. It did try to determine a number of “excess” deaths, which are deaths that wouldn’t have occurred if the hurricane hadn’t hit. Furthermore, those involved in the study have denied any political interference from any party. Yet, Trump insists that the relief effort was an “an incredible, unsung success.”
Alexia Fernández Campbell from Vox stated in her article that “Had Trump actually read the report, he would understand that researchers relied on widely accepted statistical science, death records, mortality data, and household surveys.” However, Trump’s issue of false claims extends beyond the lack of knowledge. The Independent claims that Trump has made 4,229 false or misleading claims since he became president, which is “an overall average of nearly 7.6 claims a day”. At the most powerful position in the government, it is not hard to imagine that Trump could have been easily briefed regarding the death toll numbers by his aides. Trump’s refusal to accept facts, and interpretation of them as personal attacks instead, is what makes those actions dangerous.
“I hate to tell you, Puerto Rico, but you’ve thrown our budget a little out of whack.” Trump told local officials when he first arrived to the stricken island. Even though he might have used that statement in a joking manner, it can still reflect potential consequences if Trump continues to deny facts he does not want to believe. It is a simple idea— if Trump is willing to believe that thousands of deaths have not occurred, while denouncing it as a personal attack, what else is he willing to deny? If Trump refuses to fund support to issues simply because he is blinded by his ego, the costs can be devastating.
Trump is privileged. He is a straight white male. He is also rich, having inherited the wealth of his father, who was one of the biggest real estate developers in New York City. He is essentially the most privileged a person can be in the American society. Trump also has a history of attacking those who are underprivileged. He has repeatedly insulted illegal immigrants, calling them “rapists” and people with “problems”, and that they bring “crime” despite there being no evidence that immigrants commit more crimes than native-born Americans.
Trump is privileged, shown to hold stereotypical views, and has now shown to be blinded by his ego. This may seem to be detached from the argument, but he is, after all, the man with the most political power in one of the most influential countries, that also happens to have the most powerful military in the world. His character will have an immediate impact on his decisions, which very well significantly influence global dynamics.
And perhaps the most appalling fact revealed about Trump’s character in these comments is his complete lack of human decency. He essentially declares a 9/11-sized death toll as the new standard for success, and completely disregards 3,000 deaths and all of the victims and their pain to make himself feel better.
An “I love Puerto Rico!” by no means is enough to make up that amount of disrespect.
Alice Qin
