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Trump Seems Focused on Hurricane Maria, Not Florence

By News & Guts
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JAMES CITY, NC - SEPTEMBER 14: Rescue workers from Township No. 7 Fire Department and volunteers from the Civilian Crisis Response Team use a boat to rescue a woman and her dog from their flooded home during Hurricane Florence September 14, 2018 in James City, United States. Hurricane Florence made landfall in North Carolina as a Category 1 storm and flooding from the heavy rain is forcing hundreds of people to call for emergency rescues in the area around New Bern, North Carolina, which sits at the confluence of the Nueces and Trent rivers. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

As Hurricane Florence floods the Carolinas and leaves lots of destruction in its path, Donald Trump seems more focused on continuing to deny the facts from the last big hurricane to hit the United States. In the last 24 hours, he dedicated four long tweets (185 words) to dispute that 3000 people died in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria.

As for his tweets regarding Hurricane Florence (not counting retweets), Trump put up three brief tweets (43 words total) praising FEMA and the Cajun Navy for their work. In the last day he hasn’t put up one original tweet about storm victims or the destruction.

CNN writes that Trump may be missing a big part of his job as President, one of the most important ones:

After all, one of the roles of the President is to comfort the nation in times of grief and to bring Americans together when some of their number are suffering.
After a shaky start when Hurricane Harvey slammed into Texas last year, the President seemed to improve his public emoting. But his treatment of Puerto Rico has overshadowed that performance. It often seems he just doesn’t care that much about other people.

Some of Trump’s staff members don’t seem to be putting much emphasis on the storm either. White House briefings on Florence have been non-existent. Why wouldn’t Sarah Sanders hold a briefing to address the hurricane and trot out officials who can speak to what is going on in the Carolinas?

Dan Rather writes:

In covering natural disasters like HurricaneFlorence over the years, I’ve seen the crisis doesn’t end when the winds or even rain subsides. An effective government response can be the difference between life and death. Much pain and danger remains. I pray and hope for the best.

Trump is expected to visit areas affected by the hurricane sometime next week. Hopefully, he will come armed with something more than paper towels.