On Monday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Chris Jansing Reports,” host Chris Jansing noted that President Joe Biden went days without mentioning the fires in Hawaii even as the response has been criticized for being slow and compared Biden’s response to then-President George W. Bush praising then-FEMA Director Michael Brown during Hurricane Katrina.
Jansing said, “President Biden heads to Hawaii, where he will meet with traumatized residents, even as his personal response to the tragedy, as well as the administration’s as a whole, has come under some pretty heavy criticism. After the President addressed the wildfires back on August 10, it was another five days before he ever even mentioned them again. That’s despite being asked about the fires at least twice while vacationing in Delaware, he refused to comment both times. On the ground in Hawaii, frustration over what’s been described as a painstakingly slow response and recovery has evolved into anger at the situation, the system, and even the President himself.”
Jansing then played video of a Hawaii resident saying that he doesn’t want Biden to visit because it would cause chaos and “we don’t need” him.
Later, during an interview with Rice University History Professor Douglas Brinkley, who Jansing noted wrote a book on the response to Katrina, Jansing stated, “The lack of a verbal response from a man known for his empathy, with 120 hours between comments, is a big head-scratcher for a lot of people.”
After Brinkley criticized Biden’s response, Jansing said, “After Katrina…President Bush infamously praised the FEMA director, saying, ‘Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job.’ And I wonder if you think a president can come back from what’s perceived as a tone-deaf response. In this case, I think, yes, of course, the people of Hawaii, the residents’ anger, but also for millions of Americans, Hawaii is an aspirational state, right? It’s a place where you dream to go on your honeymoon, you hope to visit one day for a landmark birthday, and what Americans are seeing doesn’t comport with that dream.”
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