President Donald Trump called into question the death toll in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria on Thursday — which officials recently estimated at nearly 3,000 — dismissing the number as a conspiracy concocted by Democrats.

As Hurricane Florence barrels towards the east coast of the United States, the Trump administration’s response to Maria in Puerto Rico has come under renewed scrutiny.

Puerto Rico’s government, after maintaining that 64 people had died as a result of the storm, raised the official death toll to 2,975 last month.

Per CNN, the higher figure is “based on the findings of researchers from George Washington University in a study commissioned by the US commonwealth’s government.”

Trump on Tuesday, when confronted with the massive spike in the death told, told reporters he thought the U.S. response was successful.

“I actually think it was one of the best jobs that’s ever been done with respect to what this is all about,” he said. “I think that Puerto Rico was an incredible unsung success.”

Now Trump — who is spending his morning watching Fox & Friends — is going so far as to call into question the official death toll on the island.

“3000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico,” he declared. “When I left the Island, AFTER the storm had hit, they had anywhere from 6 to 18 deaths. As time went by it did not go up by much. Then, a long time later, they started to report really large numbers, like 3000.”

In a subsequent tweet, Trump blamed Democrats for the death toll: “This was done by the Democrats in order to make me look as bad as possible when I was successfully raising Billions of Dollars to help rebuild Puerto Rico. If a person died for any reason, like old age, just add them onto the list. Bad politics.”

“I love Puerto Rico!” he concluded.

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. As time went by it did not go up by much. Then, a long time later, they started to report really large numbers, like 3000… — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 13, 2018

…..This was done by the Democrats in order to make me look as bad as possible when I was successfully raising Billions of Dollars to help rebuild Puerto Rico. If a person died for any reason, like old age, just add them onto the list. Bad politics. I love Puerto Rico! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 13, 2018

UPDATE: The Washington Post is out with an early fact check of Trump’s “grotesque” tweets. Read here.

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