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Joe Biden said on Tuesday he would travel to Hawaii as the U.S. president sought to quell growing criticism of his response to the deadly wildfires that have ravaged the state over the past week.
“My wife Jill and I are going to Hawaii as soon as possible,” Biden said in a speech in Wisconsin. “I don’t want to get in the way. I’ve been to too many disaster areas. But I want to make sure they get everything they need.”
The president’s comments came after days of criticism from political opponents over his response to the disaster, which has killed nearly 100 people and is expected to kill more.
Biden, who has been vacationing in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, in recent days, said when pressed by reporters on Sunday that he had “no comment” on the fire. While riding his bike earlier, he replied “we’re thinking about it” and asked loudly if he would visit the state.
The fire that quickly engulfed the Maui town of Lahaina last Tuesday has become the state’s deadliest natural disaster and the most destructive fire in the United States in more than a century.
“Joe Biden’s refusal to help or comment on the tragedy in Maui is a disgrace,” Donald Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, said on his Truth social networking site on Monday. The former president sought to draw comparisons to the February train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, when the White House was also criticized for the speed of its response.
White House officials were forced to defend Biden. Speaking on Air Force One Tuesday, Biden’s deputy press secretary, Olivia Dalton, said Biden “has been on this from the beginning” and first addressed the wildfire issue last Thursday.
The death toll reached 99 on Monday and is expected to rise as rescuers bring cadaver dogs to scour the blaze. Gov. Josh Green said on Monday that 1,300 people were still missing and he expected the death toll to rise by 10 to 20 per day for the next 10 days.
Doug Heyer, a veteran GOP strategist and longtime top aide to Republicans on Capitol Hill, said Biden’s response “goes against the general comforter image he’s built over two decades.”
“The way Trump handled the disaster was terrible,” Haye said. “Trump was golfing when the disaster happened. But now Biden is on the beach and can’t and won’t talk about it.”
Mary Anne Marsh, policy analyst for Boston Democrats at the Dewey Square Group, said it was “appropriate” for Biden to refuse to address the wildfires “as a show of respect” at a beach retreat and criticized Republicans People politicize fire. disaster.
“Incendiary and irresponsible, it is disgraceful that Republicans have once again chosen to be provocative, allowing a tragedy to become a political football.”
On Tuesday, the White House said more than 300 FEMA employees were on site and provided 50,000 meals, 75,000 liters of water, 5,000 cribs and 10,000 blankets. The White House said the Coast Guard and Navy were supporting rescue and firefighting efforts.
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