Florida Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican locked in a tight race with incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson for a critical senate seat, pushed back at President Trump today after he tweeted an outrageous claim that an estimated 3,000 deaths in Puerto Rico were made-up by Democrats.
Trump this morning accused Democrats, without evidence, of inflating the death toll in order “to make me look bad.”
Exploding on Twitter two months before Election Day, Trump’s comments have the potential to intensify Democratic voter registration efforts and perhaps election turnout. And that, Republicans and Democrats say, could prove crucial in Florida’s hotly contested races for U.S. Senate and governor, which are essentially tied races.
Scott — who was frequently by Trump’s side at the White House and at his resorts in Palm Beach and Bedminster, New Jersey, in 2017 — began putting more distance between himself and the unpopular president this year as he geared up for a Senate run. Now Scott seldom mentions the president and won’t commit to having an event with him before the November election.
Florida’s GOP gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis, also disagreed with Trump’s insensitive comments.
“Ron DeSantis is committed to standing with the Puerto Rican community, especially after such a tragic loss of life. He doesn’t believe any loss of life has been inflated,” DeSantis’ campaign said.
Approximately 1.2 million Puerto Ricans are now living in Florida, making them a key voting bloc heading into the midterm elections.
Alan Levine, a Republican appointed by Scott to Florida’s university governing board, couldn’t keep quiet.
“Mr. President. SHUT UP,” Levine replied to Trump on Twitter. “Any death, whether one or 3,000 is a tragedy. That doesn’t mean you caused it, and its not about you. Show compassion for the families,” Levine wrote. “Learn what we can so future response can improve. Honestly….”
Rep. Ileana Ros Lehtinen unleashed on Trump. “What kind of mind twists that statistic into ‘Oh, fake news is trying to hurt my image,’” she said. “How can you be so self-centered and try to distort the truth so much? It’s mind boggling.”
Florida state Rep. Bob Cortes, a Republican of Puerto Rican descent who heads DeSantis’ Boricua outreach, fretted at the comments from Trump.
“Every morning there is something new that the president tweets,” Cortes told WFTV. “I have no reason to doubt the number of 2,975 deaths in Puerto Rico.”
Earlier in the week, Trump reignited a feud with Puerto Rican officials over what he felt was a lack of credit for his administration’s storm response, which was widely panned.