Puerto Rico’s Death Toll Was About to Make Trump’s Disaster Spin Look Worse
By August 26, the administration’s Puerto Rico record was headed for another credibility hit as reporting about Hurricane Maria’s true death toll sharpened. The political problem for Trump was not just the number itself, but the way his team had treated Puerto Rico as an afterthought while continuing to tout the response as a success. The issue was especially combustible because the island’s officials were moving toward a much higher official toll, which made prior dismissive talk look even uglier in hindsight. Even before the full public blowback landed, this was the kind of fact pattern that turns into a branding disaster for a president w…
First recorded Aug 26, 2018·Meaningfully updated Aug 26, 2018
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Puerto Rico’s Death Toll Was About to Make Trump’s Disaster Spin Look Worse
By August 26, the administration’s Puerto Rico record was headed for another credibility hit as reporting about Hurricane Maria’s true death toll sharpened. The political problem for Trump was not just the number itself, but the way his team had treated Puerto Rico as an afterthought while continuing to tout the response as a success. The issue was especially combustible because the island’s officials were moving toward a much higher official toll, which made prior dismissive talk look even ugl…
By August 26, the administration’s Puerto Rico record was headed for another credibility hit as reporting about Hurricane Maria’s true death toll sharpened. The political problem for Trump was not just the number itself, but the way his team had treated Puerto Rico as an afterthought while continuing to tout the response as a success. The issue was especially combustible because the island’s officials were moving to…
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