President Trump appears to be alone in his baseless assertion that Hurricane Maria's death toll was inflated "by the Democrats in order to make [him] look as bad as possible."
Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R), who is currently running for Senate and aligns with Trump on most issues, tweeted Thursday that the president is wrong in his claim — though he stopped short of offering pointed criticism of Trump for making it. Trump had suggested without evidence that the death toll in Puerto Rico was much lower than the roughly 3,000 an independent study had determined. Scott noted this and added that he saw the storm's destruction firsthand.
Additionally, the Republican candidate for governor of Florida, Rep. Ron DeSantis, also backed away from Trump's theory. A spokesperson for DeSantis said Thursday that the lawmaker "doesn't believe any loss of life has been inflated," per NBC News reporter Hallie Jackson. This is particularly notable because DeSantis has otherwise established himself as being as passionate a supporter of the president as possible, as NBC News' Benjy Sarlin points out.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R) also tweeted that 3,000 Americans did, in fact, die in Puerto Rico. But rather than calling out the president more directly for making claims without evidence, Rubio lamented the fact that "these days even tragedy becomes political."
-
Crossword: August 27, 2025The Week's daily crossword
-
August 27 editorial cartoonsCartoons Wednesday’s political cartoons include a KKK rebrand, Donald Trump vs. Gavin Newsom, and Ghislaine Maxwell as the new Celebrity Apprentice
-
The mission to demine UkraineThe Explainer An estimated quarter of the nation – an area the size of England – is contaminated with landmines and unexploded shells from the war
-
Trump expands National Guard role in policingSpeed Read The president wants the Guard to take on a larger role in domestic law enforcement
-
Trump says he's firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa CookSpeed Read The move is likely part of Trump's push to get the central bank to cut interest rates
-
Abrego released from jail, faces Uganda deportationSpeed Read The wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego García is expected to be detained at an ICE check-in and deported to Uganda
-
Trump arms National Guard in DC, threatens other citiesspeed read His next targets are Chicago, New York and Baltimore
-
Judge: Trump's US attorney in NJ serving unlawfullySpeed Read The appointment of Trump's former personal defense lawyer, Alina Habba, as acting US attorney in New Jersey was ruled 'unlawful'
-
Third judge rejects DOJ's Epstein records requestSpeed Read Judge Richard Berman was the third and final federal judge to reject DOJ petitions to unseal Epstein-related grand jury material
-
Texas OKs gerrymander sought by TrumpSpeed Read The House approved a new congressional map aimed at flipping Democratic-held seats to Republican control
-
Israel starts Gaza assault, approves West Bank planSpeed Read Israel forces pushed into the outskirts of Gaza City and Netanyahu's government gave approval for a settlement to cut the occupied Palestinian territory in two
