A panel on the Fox News show “Outnumbered” criticized President Donald Trump Thursday for denying that hurricanes last fall resulted in nearly 3,000 deaths in Puerto Rico.
“Five states have declared a state of emergency ... Ten million people in the path of Florence,” exclaimed co-host Melissa Francis, referring to states bracing for Hurricane Florence’s anticipated Carolina landfall on Friday.
“Instead, they’re fighting back and forth about what happened in Puerto Rico,” Francis continued. “It is incredibly distasteful. I don’t know why the president weighed in on this one.”
Contributor Steve Hilton chimed in to say that Trump’s remarks were “unseemly,” and that “this political argument is really unnecessary.”
“What are we doing?” Hilton asked.
(Photo: Fox News)
The conversation followed Trump’s tweets earlier in the day accusing Democrats of making up “really large numbers” of Puerto Rico deaths in an effort to make him “look as bad as possible.” Trump has been bragging about his administration’s response to last year’s hurricanes in recent days amid predictions for Hurricane Florence.
The Puerto Rican government revised Hurricane Maria’s official death toll from 64 to 2,975 last month following a government-commissioned study.
“3000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico. When I left the island, AFTER the storm had hit, they had anywhere from 6 to 18 deaths,” Trump tweeted, referring to his only visit to Puerto Rico after hurricanes Irma and Maria.
“Outnumbered” co-host Harris Faulkner said Trump’s claims on Twitter “cheapens us as a country.”
Frequent contributor Katie Pavlich argued the president’s comments about Puerto Rico as Hurricane Florence nears the U.S. served as a “distraction” and prevents the country from learning from mistakes made during Maria to better prepare.
Leslie Marshall said on the show that Trump should have kept politics out of his disaster remarks.
“You can never ― left or right, no matter what office you’re in ― try and turn disaster into political victory,” said Marshall.
“One of the things people are looking at ― which they don’t want to see in the president ― is the self-accolades.”
Residents evacuate from coastal areas near Wallace, North Carolina, on Tuesday.
A store's bread shelves are bare as people stock up on food ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Florence on on Tuesday in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
A Tiki bar sits empty with the message 'FLO AWAY' on Tuesday on Topsail Island, North Carolina.
Wood boards and cardboard boxes block the entrance to a Walmart store in Kill Devil Hills in the Outer Banks of North Carolina on Tuesday.
The pumps at the Shell gas station on Western Boulevard featured 'out of gas' signs as people prepared to ride out Hurricane Florence on Tuesday in Raleigh, North Carolina.
A man helps board up Aussie Island surf shop on Sept. 11, 2018, in Wrightsville, North Carolina.
Employees of Redix board up the front windows of the store in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, on Tuesday.
Shenae Thurston carries her baby as her family cuts short their vacation and evacuates the South Bay Inn and Suites hotel on Sept. 11 ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Florence in Myrtle Beach.
Walker Townsend, at right, from the Isle of Palms, South Carolina, fills a sandbag while Dalton Trout, in center, holds the bag at the Isle of Palms municipal lot on Monday, Sept. 10.
Customers line up to buy propane at Socastee Hardware store in Myrtle Beach on Monday.
Jim Craig, David Burke and Chris Rayner load generators as people buy supplies at The Home Depot in Wilmington, North Carolina on Monday.
Jim Carter and Rob Quinn board up Lagerheads Tavern in Wrightsville Beach on Monday.
Jacob Whitehead (L) and Matt Jones hit golf balls into the surf in Wrightsville Beach on Sept. 11 as Hurricane Florence approaches.
South Carolina National Guard soldiers transfer bulk diesel fuel into fuel tanker trucks for distribution in advance of Hurricane Florence, in North Charleston, South Carolina, on Monday.
Dogs are seen in a car during an evacuation caused by Hurricane Florence in Summerville, South Carolina, on Sept. 11, in this image obtained from social media.
Boarded-up houses are seen ahead of Hurricane Florence's expected landfall at Holden Beach, North Carolina, on Monday.
Empty shelves are seen at a supermarket as residents prepare for Florence's descent in Columbia, South Carolina.
Chris Brace lowers hurricane shutters on a client's house in preparation for Hurricane Florence at Sullivan's Island, South Carolina. on Monday, Sept. 10.
From left, Douglas Hill loads groceries into Wendy Cannon's jeep as she and Logan Coombs, right, purchased items from the Piggly Wiggly in preparation for Hurricane Florence in Kinston, North Carolina, on Monday.
The U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Gravely departs Naval Station Norfolk to ride out the storm in the Atlantic Ocean ahead of Hurricane Florence, in Norfolk, Virginia, Sept. 10.
Jay Schwartz, left, and Michael Schwartz secure plywood over the windows of their business ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Florence on Tuesday in Myrtle Beach.
Larry Pierson purchases bottled water from the Harris Teeter grocery store in preparation for Hurricane Florence in Isle of Palms on Monday.
Kevin Orth loads sandbags into cars on Milford Street as he helps residents prepare for Hurricane Florence in in Charleston, South Carolina, on Monday, Sept. 10.
In this NASA handout image taken by Astronaut Ricky Arnold, Hurricane Florence gains strength in the Atlantic Ocean as it moves west, seen from the International Space Station on Sept. 10.
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