HURRICANE/PUERTO RICO/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Top Florida Republicans have been quick to say President Donald Trump is wrong about the death toll in Puerto Rico. Trump ignited a political firestorm Thursday [9-13-18] after tweeting without evidence that ‘3,000 people did not die’ following Hurricane Maria. He called the death toll numbers a plot by Democrats to make him ‘look as bad as possible.’ Florida Gov. Rick Scott said he disagreed with the president and that he has seen the ‘devastation firsthand.’ Ron DeSantis, who won the GOP primary for governor with Trump’s endorsement, also said the president is not correct. DeSantis spokesman Stephen Lawson said he did not believe that any loss of life ‘had been inflated.'”
–The Associated Press, “Florida Republicans Say Trump Is Wrong on Puerto Rico,” The New York Times online, September 13, 2018