Donald Trump's Hurricane Florence 'Rumor Control Page' Retweet Backfires

President Donald Trump sparked outrage Thursday with his false claim that almost 3,000 people “did not die” as a result of back-to-back hurricanes that battered Puerto Rico last year.

On Friday morning, Trump faced further backlash and accusations of hypocrisy after he retweeted a Federal Emergency Management Agency post linking to its “rumor control page” that aims to dispel fake news about Hurricane Florence.

The storm made landfall in the Carolinas at around the same time.

“During disasters, it’s critical to avoid spreading false information,” FEMA wrote in its post. “Always check with official sources before sharing.”

The tweet was one of 15 Florence-related posts by government agencies that Trump retweeted within a short period Friday. He shared the link to the “rumor control page,” which busts myths on issues such as whether service animals are allowed into shelters or if beach sand can be used for sandbagging, to his 54 million followers.

However, the retweet was too much for many people on Twitter to stomach ― given Trump’s promotion of the Puerto Rico falsehood some 24 hours earlier: