Tipsheet

Joe Biden Decided to Torch His Reputation for Empathy Over the Weekend

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  August 14, 2023 7:15 AM

As Hawaii recovers from the devastating fire that’s killed nearly 100 people, one of the most destructive in American history, Joe Biden was vacationing in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The brushfires erupted on Maui last week, and you’d think, given this historic natural disaster, that the president would be high tailing it over there to oversee the recovery efforts. Instead, he remained on vacation, curtly responding to questions about the rising death toll from the fires. Around 1,000 people are still missing as we speak. 

“No comment,” is the old man’s response. 


Is it because Joe Biden has no empathy? Was he too tired? This administration cannot get its act together regarding natural disasters. It’s almost comical. The train derailment in Ohio in February, which could have spurred an environmental disaster, was bungled by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who took days to get to the area. Joe Biden hasn’t even visited the beleaguered residents. Politics were allegedly at play regarding the response. The site of the toxic train derailment was East Palestine, which is deep red Trump Country. 

If Biden didn’t go there after a disaster but leaped on a plane to visit the deep blue state of Hawaii after a brushfire, I guess I can see why aides might not want him to go. Then again, it doesn’t wash away his negligence in refusing to visit Ohio. This incompetence is entirely his fault. And the line offered to explain the president’s absence is laughable: they don’t want to be a distraction. 

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Larry O’Connor dredged up the old 2020 lines about how Joe is Mr. Empathy. He blew that narrative up in one weekend. 

It wouldn’t shock me if “the big guy” was too gassed to do his job. After the NATO Summit, we all saw what three days of work does to Joe—it ruins him.