This is not up for dispute, official numbers show almost 3000 people died in Puerto Rico as a result of Hurricane Maria. In the world of alternative facts though, Donald Trump is delivering a huge dose of fake news today. Lying about the numbers at his inauguration is one thing, but lying about peoples’ lives (and deaths) is a completely new low for the President of the United States. Trump simply cannot handle the criticism that has been reignited this week over his handling of Puerto Rico. So he took to Twitter this morning to dispute the facts. He says only a handful of people actually died in Puerto Rico and somehow found a way to falsely blame Democrats for inflating the number.

If you are one of the thousands who lost a loved one as a result of Hurricane Maria, imagine seeing that tweet today. It can only add to their grief. He is basically dismissing their deaths, minimizing them, lying about them. The Mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulin Cruz replied by saying, “Mr Trump you can try and bully us with your tweets BUT WE KNOW OUR LIVES MATTER. You will never take away our self respect. Shame on you!”


This is the kind of thing that in normal times would cause a rebuke from Congressional leaders. But we know these are not normal times. Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell, we are looking at you.