The attention that Donald Trump devoted to Hurricane Maria was dramatically different from the way he treated other storms, both before and after. In fact, Trump has tweeted far more about Hurricane Maria in the last week, than he did in the week that included the actual storm.
When Hurricane Harvey was bearing down on the Texas Gulf Coast in 2017, Donald Trump hadn’t quite caught on to the “you need to warn the public and give them some advice” game. On August 23, two days before the storm hit, Trump was holding a rally in Phoenix, and was far more concerned about Jeff Flake than the Category 4 storm raging off the Texas coast. It wasn’t until the day before the storm made landfall that he began mentioning the storm and passing along links. However, on the day that Harvey made landfall at San José Island, Texas, Trump was all over it. Of the 15 tweets he made that day, 8 were hurricane related — though he took time out that day to pardon former sheriff and racist icon, Joe Arpaio. Trump kept his attention on Texas for several days, retweeting FEMA announcements, repeatedly stating that he was talking with the governor, and promising to visit the area.
A week latter, Trump was still tweeting about Harvey and he got out there early with tweets related to Hurricane Irma. While the storm was still days away from the Florida Keys, Trump was passing out links to local and federal emergency sites and generally showing an interest in what was happening. He continued tweeting as the storm approached, marveling at its size, declaring his support, and handing out links to FEMA the Red Cross and other sources of emergency support. But Trump did seem a bit bored with all this storm stuff by that point. He only mentioned Irma two more times in the days following the storm crossing the Keys, and instead focused on an incident in London as proof that his travel ban needed to be “even tougher.”
Then, a week after Irma passed, Maria approached Puerto Rico. And Trump … stayed quiet. The day before the record-breaking storm hit the island, Trump issued a single tweet saying that Puerto Rico faced a monster storm and that “our hearts are with you.” Trump followed this with a tweet about the “sad” ratings for the Emmy Awards. On the day of the impact, Trump mentioned Puerto Rico one time to tell the people there to “stay strong.” it was his last tweet of the day, made hours after the storm had ravaged the island. During the day, Trump tweeted about Franklin Graham, Rand Paul, Fox and Friends, North Korea, and multiple times about “Big” Luther Strange. What he did not do was pass along any FEMA links, or statements that he was working with the local government, or any of the sort of information and assurances he provided to Florida and Texas.
As Hurricane Florence began spinning toward the East Coast last week, it was clear Trump didn’t want to be accused of not keeping his eye on the eye. He started tweeting about Florence more than a week before the storm arrived and his twitter feed filled day after day with links to FEMA. On the day of impact, Trump tweeted about items related to Hurricane Florence 24 times.
Tweets related to each storm in the week that starts four days before each storm: Harvey 25, Irma 20, Maria 2, Florence 48. One of these things is very, very much not like the others.
But of course, those two tweets were not the only Maria-related tweets that Trump would eventually produce. In the same week that Florence arrived, Trump tweeted at least six times in an attempt to wash his hands of the 3,000 Americans who died from the storm that Trump neglected. Ninety-six Americans died in Hurricane Irma. 106 died in Hurricane Harvey. Both of those states got Trump’s attention, and promises of unlimited help. Puerto Rico got the back of his hand. The number of deaths corresponds directly to the level of attention and support provided.
Actually, Trump’s hurricane-related tweets can be showcased by just one tweet.
That’s a Spanish language FEMA tweet retweeted by Donald Trump for those in the way … of Hurricane Florence. Which is certainly helpful. And noticeably different.