This is not good.
A Hawaii state lawmaker expressed strong criticism of President Biden’s recent visit to the hurricane-ravaged island of Maui. According to the lawmaker, locals viewed the President’s comments as deeply insensitive and found fault with his frequent mispronunciation of officials’ names as well as his perceived inattentiveness during a memorial event for fire victims. Things were so bad at one point President Biden even fell asleep!
According to Fox, Diamond Garcia, the Hawaii House Minority Floor Leader representing Oahu and a member of the Republican party, emphasized that the community was still grappling with the aftermath of the devastating fires that claimed over a hundred lives and left the city of Lahaina in ruins.
Garcia, in an interview with “Hannity,” conveyed the disbelief of Maui residents when President Biden initially responded to reporters’ inquiries about the fires with a curt “no comment” while vacationing in Sussex County, Delaware. Garcia recounted the President’s brief visit to Hawaii, noting that it lasted less than six hours. During this short span, Biden conducted a brief tour, held a press conference, in which he struggled with the pronunciation of names, and attended an event with local families who had lost everything. It was during this event that Biden, according to Garcia, appeared to doze off while families shared their heart-wrenching experiences.
Garcia expressed his disappointment in the President’s behavior, stating that this is the leader of their nation. He conveyed the sentiment of many Hawaiians who feel like “second-class citizens” and view the $700-per-household pledge from FEMA as inadequate federal assistance.
Regarding Biden’s comparison of the deadly wildfires to a kitchen fire at his New Castle County, Delaware home in 2004, Garcia described it as a “slap in the face” to the affected families in Hawaii. He believed the comment was entirely inappropriate and reflected a lack of basic empathy.
Garcia stressed that criticism of Biden’s actions on the island was not a matter of partisanship, as Hawaii remains predominantly Democratic. Despite this, he asserted that the President failed to provide genuine federal support even in a strongly Democratic state.
In response to President Biden’s handling of another disaster zone, Mayor Trent Conaway of East Palestine, Ohio, a Republican, shared his similar experiences of a lack of urgency from the President. Months after a Norfolk-Southern derailment caused a long-term toxic situation in Columbiana County, Ohio, and Beaver County, Pennsylvania, Conaway expressed doubt about Biden’s commitment to visiting the recovering community, should he eventually decide to do so.
Conaway stated that while the community would welcome the President if he did visit, it would be perceived as “too little, too late” given the delays in addressing the situation.
WATCH:
FACT CHECK
a video is spreading showing Joe Biden appearing to sleep while visiting wildfire survivors in Lahaina in Maui County, Hawaii.
This is FALSE.
the longer video shows Biden not sleeping.
Biden bowed his head for a brief few seconds.
FACTS MATTER! pic.twitter.com/eqiNPUtLCN
— PoliticsVideoChannel (@politvidchannel) August 22, 2023