President Trump is traveling to North Carolina Wednesday to survey damage from Hurricane Florence, a state where 343,000 people are still without power after bearing the brunt of the storm’s impact. At least 37 people have died in storm-related incidents, including 27 in North Carolina, 8 in South Carolina and 2 in Virginia. The region is now dealing with massing flooding in the wake of Florence’s path.
The federal response to Hurricane Florence has largely been overshadowed by the president’s claims of “A Plus” response to past storms, including that of Hurricane Maria. Mr. Trump recently disputed new findings that Hurricane Maria’s death toll was far greater than originally estimated in Puerto Rico, placing blame on Democrats for inflating numbers to “make him look bad.”
He tweeted on Tuesday that they would deploy a similar tactic in the wake of Florence.
“Don’t be fooled, at some point in the near future 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!” Mr. Trump tweeted
Meanwhile, Mr. Trump’s top response official, FEMA administrator Brock Long, is under investigation for his alleged use of government cars in a personal capacity, all while managing the response, recovery and cleanup efforts from the hurricane’s impact.
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