Trump tweets: Dems ready to jump on U.S. handling of Florence
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump sought Tuesday to blunt future criticism from Democrats about his administration’s handling of Hurricane Florence, predicting in a pair of tweets that they would soon be “ranting” despite the “great job” underway.
“Right now, everybody is saying what a great job we are doing with Hurricane Florence — and they are 100 percent correct,” Trump wrote. “But don’t be fooled, at some point in the near future the Democrats will start ranting that FEMA, our Military, and our First Responders, who are all unbelievable, are a disaster and not doing a good job. This will be a total lie, but that’s what they do, and everybody knows it!”
Trump’s tweets came as North Carolina is still in the midst of confronting the disaster left behind by Florence, which includes widespread flooding and a death toll that has steadily risen since the storm made landfall Friday.
Trump has repeatedly heralded his administration’s response to Hurricane Maria despite criticism from officials in Puerto Rico and a study last month that concluded that last fall’s storm resulted in nearly 3,000 “excess” deaths.
North Carolina confirmed 27 deaths linked to Florence, pushing the toll from the storm to 35 dead in three states Tuesday. South Carolina and Virginia also reported deaths.
State and federal authorities continue to warn that parts of North Carolina are still facing peril, with more than a dozen rivers at flood stage and more flooding expected to come.
William “Brock” Long, the embattled FEMA administrator facing mounting questions about an investigation into his use of government vehicles, traveled to North Carolina this week and met with state officials, who praised him and his agency for their assistance.
“I’m very pleased with where we are but I know we’ve got a long way to go, because this event’s not over,” Long said Monday at a news briefing with North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.
He said the next two days would be critical, adding: “We realize this is going to be a big recovery mission.”
Long, who called North Carolina’s response to the storm a model for other states, said it was important for him to be on the ground to help them “overcome this hit.”
Cooper said that FEMA was continuing to spread its people across the state, saying he and Long planned to travel to Wilmington, N.C., an area that officials say has been essentially cut off by the flooding.
The White House said President Trump will visit North Carolina on Wednesday to see the damage. Cooper said he would meet with Trump when he visits the state.