The strength of Hurricane Irma has dropped cranes and flooded city streets. But according to right-wing provocateur Ann-Coulter, the storm isn’t even worth reporting.
“Hurricane update from Miami: Light rain; residents at risk of dying from boredom,” she tweeted Sunday morning as the hurricane made landfall in the Florida Keys.
HURRICANE UPDATE FROM MIAMI: LIGHT RAIN; RESIDENTS AT RISK OF DYING FROM BOREDOM
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) September 10, 2017
Three hours later, she provided another ill-informed update:
I wish cables would mention the hurricane. There is a decidedly heavier-than-average morning dew in Miami; Palm Beach bordering on breezy.
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) September 10, 2017
Images coming out of south Florida are anything but “light” or “heavier-than-average.” The videos are downright dire.
This is Miami right now. #HurricaneIrma pic.twitter.com/bhVqJ1bmCP
— Ryan Fournier (@RyanAFournier) September 10, 2017
Roof of a home in #Miami coast being ripped off by powerful #HurricaneIrma winds. Terrifying stuff. These winds are no joke. #Irma pic.twitter.com/P0kMIKqlf6
— Josh Benson (@WFLAJosh) September 10, 2017
Conservative commentators, in their attempt to deny the serious realities of climate change, have tried to reduce the significance of Hurricane Irma. Radio host Rush Limbaugh appeared to have evacuated his home in Palm Beach, Florida just two days after he said Irma was a hoax concocted by liberals and cable news.
Now Coulter seems to be playing the same game, putting her Twitter audience at risk in the process.
The winds were so strong in Miami Sunday that they brought down multiple construction cranes in the city.
A second crane collapses in Miami and dangles from an unfinished high-rise tower pic.twitter.com/kme8P2VoU5
— NBC News (@NBCNews) September 10, 2017
Coulter was not the only Republican who was spreading fake news on Twitter. While Limbaugh and Coulter have tried to downplay the dangers of this hurricane season, President Donald Trump has heralded the historic nature of these storms.
Trump’s social media director, Dan Scavino Jr., shared a video Sunday that he claimed depicted Miami International Airport. The official Twitter account for Miami’s airport had to comment on the video to inform everyone that the video was not from its airport.
http://twitter.com/JoePerticone/status/906970529093095424
The video was actually from an airport in Mexico last month.
