Jean-Pierre Claims Biden Reacted To Maui Fires ‘In Record Time’
In an attempt to dismiss a question about President Joe Biden’s failed response to the Maui wildfires, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre claimed that “the folks on the ground” would say that the president reacted to the fires in “record time.”
Jean-Pierre made the claim in response to a question from Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy — who criticized the Biden administration’s response to the disaster, pointing out the president’s apparent lack of interest in dealing with the wildfires while he was on vacation.
“It seems like the hurricane response so far is robust. Did you guys realize that the initial Hawaii wildfire response was not that good or is it just easier for people to get help from the White House when the president is not on vacation?” Doocy asked Jean-Pierre during the press briefing.
The press secretary appeared frustrated, noting that she disagreed with the premise of Doocy’s question before launching into a canned answer about “the folks on the ground” in Maui — especially the Democrat politicians — thought that Biden “reacted in record time.”
“So, if you talk to — if you were to do your reporting and speak to the governor of Hawaii, the senators of Hawaii, the folks on the ground, they would say that the president reacted in record time when it came to dealing with the wildfires, when it came to dealing and making sure that they got everything that they need on the federal level to deal with what was going on on the ground,” Jean-Pierre claimed.
“Let’s not forget, there were more than 600 federal employees on the ground already to assist with the wildfires in Maui,” she argued. “So, your question is — is wrong — it’s flawed in many, many ways. And I would — I would — I would advise you to go speak to the governor and the local and state officials in — in Hawaii.”
However, despite claims from state officials — who are members of the same political party as Biden and have thus been called out for refusing to criticize his response — Maui residents have been vocal in their anger toward the Biden administration, especially the president himself.
Beyond the outrage from Maui residents, the facts show that Jean-Pierre’s claims about Biden reacting “in record time” were blatantly false.
While the wildfires were still raging in Maui, Biden was lounging on the beach in Delaware — where he infamously said, “No comment” and smirked in response to reporters’ questions about the disaster. Even after backlash from this response, the White House continued to ignore demands from the public for Biden to visit Maui.
Instead, his schedule had him leaving his Delaware vacation only to go back on vacation around a week later in Lake Tahoe. After the president’s second refusal to answer reporters’ questions about the disaster, a trip to Maui was finally added to Biden’s schedule. However, that ended up being only a six-hour visit to the island roughly two weeks after the disaster happened before Biden returned to his vacation at Democrat donor Tom Steyer’s Lake Tahoe mansion.
