![\"trump](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.towleroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/hurricanes_trump.jpeg?resize=740%2C479\")
<\/a><\/p>\nDonald Trump told attendees at a reception at the White House on Thursday night that before the last few weeks \u00a0he \u201cnever knew a Category 5\u2033 hurricane existed.<\/p>\n
Said Trump:<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Florida you got hit with the strongest winds ever recorded. It actually hit the Keys with a\u2014it was a Category 5. I never even knew a Category 5\u00a0existed. \u00a0And they suffered greatly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Watch:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
MSNBC\u2019s Steve Benen adds<\/a>:<\/p>\n And as strange as this was \u2013 a 71-year-old man<\/a> who watches a lot of television had never heard of a Category 5 hurricane? \u2013 it wasn\u2019t the most surprising thing Trump said yesterday in reference to the deadly storms. Consider\u00a0this exchange<\/a>\u00a0aboard Air Force One yesterday between the president and reporters:<\/p>\n Q: Mr. President, the severity of these storms \u2013 the one in Florida, the one in Texas \u2013 has that made you rethink your views of climate change?<\/p>\n TRUMP: Well, we\u2019ve had bigger storms than this. And if you go back into the 1930s and the 1940s, and you take a look, we\u2019ve had storms over the years that have been bigger than this. If you go back into the Teens, you\u2019ll see storms that were as big or bigger. So we did have two horrific storms, epic storms. But if you go back into the \u201930s and \u201940s, and you go back into the Teens, you\u2019ll see storms that were very similar and even bigger, okay?<\/p>\n Let\u2019s take a step back for a moment. As Hurricane Harvey approached Texas\u2019 gulf coast, Trump\u00a0couldn\u2019t stop marveling<\/a>\u00a0at its size and intensity. At a news conference, he said, \u201cI\u2019ve heard the words, \u2018epic.\u2019 I\u2019ve heard \u2018historic.\u2019 That\u2019s what it is.\u201d It followed a\u00a0tweet<\/a>\u00a0in which Trump added, \u201cMany people are now saying that this is the worst storm\/hurricane they have ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n For a while, I assumed this was the president\u2019s way of conveying a sense of urgency to the public, but the more Trump gushed, the more it seemed he was referring to the scope of the challenge on his shoulders.<\/p>\n The post Trump on Hurricanes: \u2018I Never Even Knew a Category 5 Existed\u2019 \u2014 WATCH<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n