Reps. Velazquez, Warren Lead Over 130 Lawmakers Condemning Trump Remarks on Hurricane Death Toll in Puerto Rico
Rep.
In their letter to the President, the lawmakers strongly condemned
"These comments were grossly inaccurate, callous, embarrassing and beneath the dignity of the Office of the President of the United States," the lawmakers wrote. "...[Y]ou sought to distort the truth and, in doing so, gravely insulted the mourning families of the thousands of American citizens who died from Maria and the storm's aftermath."
The lawmakers also rejected the President's remarks as a deliberate attempt to deflect blame from his Administration's response to Hurricane Maria. "The lost lives of
The lawmakers called on
The full text of the letter is below. A .pdf with the full list of signatories is available here (https://velazquez.house.gov/sites/velazquez.house.gov/files/Letter%20responding%20to%20President%20Trump%20remarks%20on%20Puerto%20Rico%20fatalities.pdf).
President
The
Dear Mr. President:
We write to denounce your recent statements about the fatalities in
As you are well aware,
Your claim that the increased death toll "was done by the
Finally, your comment "If a person died for any reason, like old age, just add them onto the list" betrayed a profound misinterpretation of hurricanes' impact on mortality. Many lives lost in the weeks following the hurricane could have been prevented by an effective response--but they were not. You then doubled down on this comment in multiple tweets the next day. It is unclear whether your commentary on this topic stems from ignorance of the post-storm reality in
After a disaster, the President needs to lead the country in the recovery effort, not attempt to shift blame or openly question the tragic loss of life. As President of
Puerto Ricans are American citizens who have served and shed blood in our wars, giving their lives to defend our nation's freedoms. They deserve to be treated with the same dignity and respect we would afford any American citizens following a catastrophic storm.
To that end, we call on you to apologize for your unconscionable and unfounded claims, which belittle the scale of the tragedy suffered by the people of
Sincerely,
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