CNN White House correspondent Jeremy Diamond touted President Joe Biden’s visit to fire-ravaged Maui as a prime opportunity for the “consoler-in-chief” to put his “signature empathy” on display.
Diamond made the comments just prior to Biden’s arrival in Maui — which came nearly two weeks after the deadly fires swept through the historic village of Lahaina — and skirted the fact that the president had previously offered “no comment” on the disaster and had bookended his trip to the devastated island with vacation days in Lake Tahoe.
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Diamond quoted Biden as saying, “I will do everything in my power to help Maui recover and rebuild from this tragedy. And throughout our efforts we are focused on respecting sacred lands, cultures, and traditions.”
He went on to note that Biden was likely to receive some criticism of the federal government’s response thus far, explaining that some Maui residents were saying the reaction was too slow and that Republicans had complained about Biden’s failure to address the situation at all for a number of days.
Diamond then argued that “most importantly,” Biden’s visit to Maui would be “an opportunity for the President to display that signature empathy that, while it may have been missing for a handful of days last week, it has been a hallmark of his political life and of his presidency as well. Certainly a moment for him to present that front today.”
But what Diamond dismissed as Biden’s “signature empathy” going “missing for a handful of days,” others called out as tone-deaf at best. After days of silence on the raging fires and the climbing death toll, one reporter caught up with Biden at his Rehoboth Beach vacation home and asked whether he had anything to say about the rising death toll. Biden’s response was simple: “No. No comment.”
When Biden finally landed on the island Monday, the situation worsened as he repeatedly attempted to express “empathy” by sharing exaggerated personal stories. In one such instance, he suggested he knew what it was like to lose a home to a fire, referencing a small kitchen fire — caused by a lightning strike and controlled within 20 minutes — and claiming that it almost destroyed his ’67 Corvette and killed his cat.
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