The death toll in the Maui, Hawaii wildfires has topped 110 at this time. Sadly, with more than a thousand residents still missing, that death toll is expected to grow. It is the deadliest wildfire incident in the United States in over a century. Seeing what has happened to our fellow Americans in Lahaina is heartbreaking.
So what was Joe Biden’s initial reaction when asked about the Maui tragedy?
Federal assistance to now-homeless Hawaiians was $700 per household. This is from the same government that has sent over $100 Billion to Ukraine, in many cases with little or no accountability on how it is spent. This insults the Hawaii survivors.
Sadly, this has become an undeniable pattern with Biden and his Administration. Earlier this year, when a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in East Palestine, OH, spewing deadly poison into the air and groundwater, the Biden Administration was nowhere to be found. It was only after three weeks of shaming by conservative media that Biden’s Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg, finally visited East Palestine. Biden still has not visited.
Biden displayed the same callousness when his disastrous pullout of US forces from Afghanistan resulted in the bombing deaths of thirteen US service members and one hundred and sixty-nine Afghans. During the dignified transfer of the US service members' bodies, the families of the fallen were disgusted to see Biden checking his watch as the flag-draped coffins went by. One of the mourning mothers said that Biden spoke to her more about his own son than about hers. They were there to honor.
Biden has shown the same indifference to the human suffering caused by his open border policies. Fentanyl is the highest cause of death among young adults in America – most of it coming across our Southern Border. People continue to cross the border just a few hours away from my home in Arizona. In the past two fiscal years, there have been more than a thousand reported deaths, with months still left in this fiscal year. This does not even consider how many have died, been robbed, or physically abused before they have even reached our border. Not a word from Joe Biden about their suffering.
Due to public pressure, Biden will soon visit Maui, but only after we have already witnessed his callous indifference. In reality, Joe Biden does not feel our pain.
It’s a shame that no one in Maui had the “Big Guy’s" son, Hunter, on retainer—I bet then Joe would have paid attention and responded quickly.
Jake Hoffman is a member of the Arizona Senate, founding chairman of the Arizona Freedom Caucus, 2021 National Legislator of the Year, contributing columnist at Townhall, and the President and CEO of 1TEN.io, one of the nation’s top conservative creative agencies.