Leading up to this trip, which many have seen as a mere photo-op, Biden refused to comment on the fires and only managed to scrounge up a measly $700 for families in need. Joe had some major ground to make up, and unfortunately for him, he fell flat on his face.
During the visit, Joe showed little sympathy for the people of Maui, often overdramatizing the small kitchen fire that he and Jill had at their home, all in a desperate attempt to tell these poor people that he too has suffered a devastating fire in his home.
Clearly, this type of message did not resonate with Hawaiians, and many of them are threatening to hit Joe where it hurts most: the ballot box.
From The Daily Signal:
In an address to a crowd outside Lahaina, the town destroyed by the destructive wildfires, Biden said:
Jill and I know what it’s like to lose a home. Years ago now, 15 years ago, I was in Washington doing “Meet the Press.” It was a sunny Sunday.
Lightning struck at home, on a little lake that’s outside of our home—like a big pond, and hit a wire that came up underneath our home into the heating ducts and air conditioning ducts.
To make a long story short, I almost lost my wife, my ‘67 Corvette, and my cat.
“This is the most despicable thing this president has ever said,” a restaurant owner in Kihei, Maui, told The Daily Signal via a text message Monday. “How do you compare almost losing your f****** Corvette to the children burned in their f****** homes, man?”
At a small sandwich shop north of Kihei, a former teacher, Kristen Goodwin, described how she felt after such a comment:
There are no words in response to something like that. There’s a thousand people still missing on this island, business owners who want people to come back, and who is going to come to a secluded island with people still missing?
The community members have rallied together and have taken care of each other. It was several days before [the feds] came and helped. They shut down a road for no good reason except they didn’t want people trampling over [rescue and search] sites.
Nobody understands that unless they’re here.
Of Biden, she said, “I’m not voting for him again—that’s for sure. I’ll vote for Trump. I will never vote for him again.”
Goodwin also lambasted the president’s initial response to the wildfires:
The lack of connection, the lack of real emotion. Is Biden even there? The “no comment,” situation—how dare he? He could have said “Thoughts and prayers,” at least.
Especially when it’s a historical fire, the largest fire in recent American history and you said “no comment” then went back to bicycling for hours.
[His trip to Maui] just seemed like a photo op to me.
Yikes, you know it must be bad when the longtime blue state of Hawaii is starting to turn on you.
But it's not just Hawaii that's seeing this utter lack of sympathy; it's the entire nation. I'm sure there are folks in many blue states who find this behavior appalling.
The question is, will they admit it and take action at the polls?
