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Trump grades his Puerto Rico hurricane response a '10'

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Trump grades his Puerto Rico hurricane response a '10'-

President Trump gave the federal response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico a 10 out of 10 on Thursday.

Yes. Really. He gave himself the highest marks for what has been a well-documented and tragic mess.

SEE ALSO: Photos from Puerto Rico reveal the devastating power of Hurricane Maria

He said this, and other objectively inaccurate statements about the U.S. territory, with a straight face while sitting next to Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló at the White House Thursday.

Here's his full answer to the reporter's question:

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In no world is the U.S. government's response to the natural disaster perfect. Far from it.

Based solely on basic statistics from the Puerto Rican government -- in the words of the governor -- "a lot still has to be done."

As of Thursday -- nearly a month after Hurricane Maria made landfall on the island nation as a Category 4 storm -- these are just some of the grim statistics:

  • Only 21.6 percent of Puerto Rico has power.

  • 71.58 percent has access to drinking water, but this varies greatly by region. Northern Puerto Rico, for example, has just 37 percent.

  • Just 25.07 percent of cellphone antennas and 46.57 percent of cell towers are back in operation

The situation is so dire in some communities that some Puerto Ricans -- who are American citizens -- have resorted to drinking from contaminated water sources, including Superfund sites containing extremely hazardous substances.

Those are not 10 out of 10 numbers.


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