White House Forced To Comment After Joe Biden Refuses To Do So – President Joe Biden’s press secretary was forced to wade in following criticism over his response to the devastating wildfires in Maui.
The Hawaiian island has been ravaged by wildfires for more than week, with 99 confirmed deaths as of Tuesday morning, with hundreds missing and thousands evacuated from their homes. Rescue workers have so far covered a quarter of the burn area leading to fears that the death toll may rise by 10-20 over the coming days.
President Biden has authorized federal funding and military support to assist with the ongoing rescue efforts.
However, his actions, or lack thereof, have been slammed by critics including a prominent Hawaii Democrats.
Joe Biden At The Beach
A picture of the President enjoying a day at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, over the weekend has surfaced, causing controversy, including from those within his own party. While Hawaii burned, President Biden was asked by Bloomberg White House correspondent Justin Sink about the death toll, to which he replied: “No comment.”
The remark prompted backlash from Republicans and former Hawaii state Rep. Mark Kaniela Ing, a Democrat who now serves as national director of the Green New Deal Network. “I campaigned for you. Now, when I lose dozens of my friends, family, and neighbors. This?” Kaniela Ing said on social media in a since-deleted post.
Kaniela Ing expanded on this in an interview with Fox News on Monday, during which he attacked the President’s “shocking” comments.
“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 said. “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?”
“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,” Kaniela Ing said.
He added that he deleted his post over a lack of certainty at the nature of the comments and told Fox News: “Whether or not it was as dismissive as originally reported, it is quite disappointing. I would expect more.”
White House Response
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defended the President’s actions on Monday, pointing to reports over his interactions with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Pressed on whether Biden should be vacationing during America’s deadliest ever wildfire, Jean-Pierre said he was “deeply concerned” about the situation and had sent 300 FEMA personnel to the island along with thousands of meals, coats and blankets.
The White House later released a statement in response to a request by Fox News.
“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,” the statement read.
“Yesterday he received two updates from FEMA Administrator Criswell while she was on the ground. As Governor Green stressed yesterday, within six hours of receiving Hawaii’s request, President Biden signed a Major Disaster Declaration and ordered all available federal resources in the state to help with the response,” the statement added, before concluding with a repeat of a previous Biden remark promising support to Hawaii from the federal government.
Author Expertise
Shay Bottomley is a British journalist based in Canada. He has written for the Western Standard, Maidenhead Advertiser, Slough Express, Windsor Express, Berkshire Live and Southend Echo, and has covered notable events including the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
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