President Donald Trump bizarrely claimed he had never heard of a Category 5 hurricane occurring - even though Hurricane Dorian is the fourth such storm to threaten the United States during his presidency.
Trump said at a FEMA briefing in Washington that 'I don't know that I've ever even heard the term other than I know it's there.'
'I'm not sure that I've ever even heard of a Category 5, I knew it existed and I've seen some Category 4s. You don't even see them that much,' he said.
The President has made similar claims before, as social media was quick to point out, even though he has experienced more frequent Category 5 hurricanes than any of his predecessors.
There were two in 2017, when Hurricane Irma made landfall in Florida before Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico.
Hurricane Michael last year was the third of Trump's presidency, hitting land in Florida on October 10.
Dorian made landfall in the Bahamas yesterday and is expected to move towards Florida today although the U.S. seaboard may avoid a direct hit.
Trump made a similar claim in September 2017 at the time of Hurricane Irma.
'In Florida, you got hit with the strongest winds ever recorded. It actually hit the Keys with a Category 5. I never even knew a Category 5 existed,' he said at the time.
A month later he claimed that 'nobody has ever heard of a five hitting land', which is untrue.
Barack Obama only experienced one Category 5 hurricane in eight years as President.
That was Hurricane Matthew, which caused devastation in Haiti and also made landfall in South Carolina.
George W. Bush had eight such hurricanes in eight years, most notably Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Katrina caused devastation in New Orleans, killing nearly 2,000 people and costing the U.S. government more than $120billion.
Bush was widely blamed for a bungled response to Katrina and his public standing arguably never recovered.
Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan only had one Category 5 storm to deal with during their two terms in the White House.
George H.W. Bush had two and Jimmy Carter three in their four-year presidencies.
Trump has also claimed incorrectly that the state of Alabama was in danger from Hurricane Dorian.
'Georgia’s going to be hit. Alabama’s going to get a piece of it, it looks like,' he told reporters on Sunday.
The National Weather Service in Birmingham, Alabama, slapped the President down without mentioning him by name, promising the state was not in the path of the storm.
'Alabama will NOT see any impacts from Dorian. We repeat, no impacts from Hurricane Dorian will be felt across Alabama. The system will remain too far east,' they said.
