Monday morning, President Donald Trump got right to how he spends his time nearly every morning — tweeting. He rambled about how the accomplishments he’s wrought are supposedly the best in the country’s entire history, and, similarly, he asserted that the criticism he’s endured is the worst of any president ever. Hours later, he posted Twitter messages with the implicit assumption that significant portions of the people in the path of some serious storms churning in the Atlantic Ocean are going to be reassured by anything he has to say.
Speaking specifically “to” those in the path of the monstrous Hurricane Florence, he said, in part:
‘[T]he storm looks very bad! Please take all necessary precautions. We have already began mobilizing our assets to respond accordingly, and we are here for you!’
The Storms in the Atlantic are very dangerous. We encourage anyone in the path of these storms to prepare themselves and to heed the warnings of State and Local officials. The Federal Government is closely monitoring and ready to assist. We are with you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 10, 2018
To the incredible citizens of North Carolina, South Carolina and the entire East Coast – the storm looks very bad! Please take all necessary precautions. We have already began mobilizing our assets to respond accordingly, and we are here for you! pic.twitter.com/g74cyD6b6K
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 10, 2018
Wow, thanks Trump — we’d have never known the storm is looking very bad without you.
His efforts to reassure those facing Florence are undercut by the fact that the U.S. bungled the response to last year’s Hurricane Maria so bad that nearly 3,000 people died in Puerto Rico thanks to the storm and its effects.
FEMA itself admitted to falling perilously short of desired staffing levels, “needing more than 1,000 people to set a target for the fiscal year,” ABC explains. In addition, as the island faced Maria, it had strikingly low levels of supplies, since most of what was prepared had been used in the U.S. Virgin Islands for the response to Hurricane Irma.
Then, there’s the infamous issue of the mess that authorities waded through while trying to get power back on across the island. At first, the contract for restoring Puerto Rican power went to a small Montana firm with connections to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke that got over the top perks — like complete freedom from government audit — as part of its eventually cancelled deal.
And yet, Trump still feels it fitting to call the government’s response to the storm “fantastic,” offering that description after the official death toll was revised to be near 3,000.
Somehow, he thinks that in the wake of that, someone will care that he’s posted messages in support of those facing currently raging storms.
Check out Twitter’s response below.
Featured Image via YouTube screenshot
