Hawaii Democrat Shocked by Joe Biden’s Insensitivity on Maui Fires – A former Hawaii Democratic state representative expressed disdain for President Joe Biden’s apparent lack of compassion amid the fires that have ravaged the Hawaiian island of Maui.
The fire burned the town of Lahaina to the ground.
There were 99 dead as of Tuesday.
It could be weeks or even months before the cleanup of the island is complete.
The fire has been blamed on dried-out vegetation and winds from Hurricane Dora. Most of the fires in Hawaii are caused by “Hawaii’s acute housing shortage, reflected in a large homeless population which often cooks food outside, increases the risks of more ignitions, researchers say.”
Keahi Ho, a firefighter on duty in Lahaina, told the New York Times, “There was just no water in the hydrants.”
Joe Biden: ‘No Comment’
Biden said, “No comment” when asked by reporters about his assessment of the situation.
The comment sparked outrage among the president’s rivals.
“I campaigned for you. Now, when I lose dozens of my friends, family, and neighbors. This?” State Rep. Kaniela Ing wrote in a now-deleted post on X, formerly Twitter.
Ing, a Native Hawaiian, currently heads the Green New Deal Network.
He noted that Joe Biden’s comment seemed out of character.
“When things like this happen, it’s really the time to — if you do the kind of work I do, when the wave crests, you’ve got to paddle hardest,” he told Fox News Digital.
“When tragedies like this occur, it’s shocking to see people just conducting business as usual. … On the one hand, you don’t want everyone to be in a perpetual somber mood, but on the other hand, how can you just carry on like that?”
Ing continued, “I think everyone deserves some time to take care of themselves, wind down, but, as someone in leadership role, you need to be ready any moment to offer some empathy and solace and comfort to people that are facing a lot of trauma right now.”
He called on Joe Biden to declare a climate emergency, blaming climate change for the wildfire that claimed the lives and property on Maui.
“Declare a climate emergency. Deny fossil fuel permits, and invest substantial federal funds to the tune of $1 trillion a year,” he said.
“Hawaii came out for Biden in a big way, and I think President Biden and anyone running for president right now needs to address this head on, not just in terms of immediate relief, but in longer term recovery and accountability.”
Joe Biden Plays Damage Control
The White House played damage control the day after he said, “No comment,” putting out a statement.
“As residents of Hawai’i mourn the loss of life and devastation taking place across their beautiful home, we mourn with them. Like I’ve said, not only our prayers are with those impacted – but every asset we have will be available to them,” a statement attributed to Biden said.
Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates told Fox News Digital, “President Biden has mobilized and led a whole-of-government response to the wildfires in Hawaii from the beginning, working closely on it and receiving detailed briefings every day since.”
It remains unclear whether Biden will travel to Hawaii to see the devastation.
Maui Ought to Be Biden’s Hurricane Katrina Moment
Former President George W. Bush infamously flew over the devastation that followed Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the press raked him through the coals due to his seeming nonchalance.
Washington Examiner columnist Ian Haworth noted that Biden will not be held to the same standard because he is a Democrat.
“Perhaps the best-known example of this phenomenon is the intentional political demolition of President George W. Bush in the days following Hurricane Katrina’s destruction of New Orleans. This was arguably motivated by the desire to distract from local institutional and structural failures by pushing the falsehood that the federal government is to blame for all that is bad … if the state or local government is controlled by Democrats,” Haworth said. “But given the political tarring and feathering of [Sen. Ted] Cruz and the political crucifixion of Bush, how is Biden able to get away with the response of ‘no comment,’ let alone the fact that his entire brand is empathy, empathy, and more empathy?
“To Democrats, emotions are nothing but tools to use as smoke screens in the pursuit of power. If you’re the leader of the Democratic Party and the United States, you’re allowed to smile and sunbathe while Americans perish in the worst natural disaster that Hawaii has ever faced.”
John Rossomando is a defense and counterterrorism analyst and served as Senior Analyst for Counterterrorism at The Investigative Project on Terrorism for eight years. His work has been featured in numerous publications such as The American Thinker, The National Interest, National Review Online, Daily Wire, Red Alert Politics, CNSNews.com, The Daily Caller, Human Events, Newsmax, The American Spectator, TownHall.com, and Crisis Magazine. He also served as senior managing editor of The Bulletin, a 100,000-circulation daily newspaper in Philadelphia, and received the Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors first-place award for his reporting.
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