President Joe Biden was criticized for his callous remark when asked about the devastating wildfires that have claimed at least 96 lives in Hawaii and turned areas of the island of Maui into a charred wasteland resembling a burned-out war zone.
On Sunday, the octogenarian Democrat was catching some rays near his Rehoboth Beach, Delaware vacation home, and upon leaving, he was asked about the deadly Hawaiian catastrophe by a reporter who sought his response on the fires, the deadliest in over a century.
“No comment,” said the deeply unpopular leader when he was asked by the Bloomberg reporter about the rising death toll as he packed up his beach gear and headed home.
After a couple hours on the Rehoboth beach, @potus was asked about the rising death toll in Hawaii
“No comment,” he said before heading home pic.twitter.com/Y0UmXirju9
— Justin Sink (@justinsink) August 13, 2023
Biden was also asked about Maui and whether he planned on visiting the area while on a bike ride with First Lady Jill Biden.
“We’re looking at it,” Biden shouted back at reporters who inquired whether he would be taking a trip to the island to survey the damage.
“We’re looking at it,” Biden tells us Sunday about a potential visit to Maui to survey wildfire damage. pic.twitter.com/PZ6aGi6D5W
— darlene superville (@dsupervilleap) August 13, 2023
Biden’s remarks came during yet another weekend away from Washington, D.C. The president recently hit the 365-day mark of time spent on vacation during his presidency.
Twitter/X users shared their observations on Biden’s lack of comment on the deadly blaze and its tragic aftermath.
Has there ever been a leader who has so shamelessly vacationed through crisis after crisis? https://t.co/QB7Zeu2uOU
— Chad Gilmartin (@ChadGilmartinCA) August 14, 2023
Embarrassing.
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) August 14, 2023
Hey, no biggie, you’re only the president on endless vacation.
— JWF (@JammieWF) August 13, 2023
Libs don’t have Bush style Katrina moments because the media ensures they have a level of infallibility that makes God jealous https://t.co/t4Fdvc1bsl
— Jones S Hamilton (@PearlRiverSwamp) August 14, 2023
I thought he just got back to work from a 2 week vacation?
— Justine (@BruinJustine) August 14, 2023
The guy is totally checked out.
— Marina Cherry (@marina_cherryfr) August 14, 2023
God help those people. They must feel completely abandoned. And helpless.
— Diane Mantouvalos (@AndoniaPR) August 14, 2023
Lawyers who are investigating the cause of the wildfires that nearly completely destroyed the resort city of Lahaina believe that damaged power lines may have been the initial source of the deadly blaze.
(Video: CBS News)
Lawyers for Watts Guerra, Singleton Schreiber, and Frantz Law Group “said they have been collecting evidence, interviewing eyewitnesses and reviewing reports that indicate that damaged power infrastructure owned by Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. created the spark for the flames,” according to Bloomberg.
“All evidence — videos, witness accounts, burn progression, and utility equipment remaining — points to Hawaiian Electric’s equipment being the ignition source of the fire that devastated Lahaina,” said Mikal Watts, an attorney for Watts Guerra.
Hawaii officials have yet to announce what caused the fires but Democrats like the state’s Governor Josh Green and Senator Mazi Hirono have blamed global warming and climate change.
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