Joe Biden finally got around to taking a little time out of his busy vacation schedule to pay attention to the people who had endured the disastrous fire in Maui.
Very little time, that is.
He was in the area for about five hours on Monday. Yet, he somehow managed to use that time as poorly as possible and open some more wounds with the things he said and did on the trip. Biden couldn’t even get the names of the Hawaiian officials he was supposed to be focusing on correct and made inappropriate jokes, including about how hot the ground was.
He couldn’t even get the name of his own FEMA Director correct — calling Deanne Criswell “Griswell” and claimed that the late Sen. Dan Inouye was “from Japan.” Inouye was born in Hawaii. He looked like he was completely zoning out, had a blank look on his face at the end of his remarks, and Sen. Brian Schatz had to help him move him along in that very awkward moment.
Incredibly, Biden also focused a lot on himself during the brief time that he gave remarks as well, talking about the death of his first wife and child. He then incredibly spoke about the kitchen fire he had once had in his house, saying he knew what it was like to “lose a home” and claiming he almost lost his wife, his Corvette, and his cat. How twisted to bring that up to people who have suffered so much.
The people weren’t having it. People spoke out against his visit even before he came. People protested his arrival holding signs that said things like “FJB” and “No comment,” a recognition of his response when asked about their plight during his Rehoboth Beach vacation. He was even reportedly met with people telling him to “Go home” as well as giving him the finger and shouting, “F**k you.”
Warning for language.
Now there are even questions about whether he fell asleep at the Lahaina Civic Center while people were speaking about the disaster.
Biden appears to fall asleep during a ceremony in Hawaii honoring the hundreds of Americans killed by the fires pic.twitter.com/epLCJ01B0J
— Sean Hannity 🇺🇸 (@seanhannity) August 22, 2023
He does appear to have his head down and to be zoning out again or falling asleep. He suddenly seems to wake/lift his head with a start as a resident talks about losing his home.
You can see as he’s leaving Hawaii that he seems out of it too, with a blank look on his face.
Biden completes his fly-by in Maui and heads back to Lake Tahoe for more vacation pic.twitter.com/ikbNX86DL4
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 22, 2023
Now he’s back on vacation again until Saturday. Five hours in Maui and a week in Lake Tahoe. Priorities.
As perhaps a final indication that everything Joe Biden touches goes south, now even his vacation at billionaire Tom Steyer’s lakefront mansion in Lake Tahoe is under investigation. Biden’s staff insisted that Biden was paying “fair market value” for the use of the home, and he brought along the extended family, including his son, Hunter.
However, now Nevada officials are investigating the rental of Steyer’s home.
The local government in Douglas County, Nev., requires vacation homes to be permitted, and multiple residents of the heavily Republican county filed complaints.
In a statement first reported by the Nevada Globe, Douglas County head of code enforcement Ernie Strehlow said: “Several inquiries have been received on this address. We cannot comment further as we are actively investigating any Douglas County Nevada code violations on this rental.”
That could leave Steyer open to a huge fine.
“The owners of any property being advertised and/or operated as an unpermitted vacation home rental located anywhere within Douglas County in violation Douglas County Code and the Nevada Revised Statutes may be subject to a civil penalty of up to $20,000.”
The White House isn’t talking about what “fair market value” of Steyer’s home actually is, but it appears to be one more area where the rules everyone else has to follow don’t really seem to apply to Joe Biden.
