Aviva Fried (US correspondent), with AFP / Photo credit: SCOTT OLSON / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP
modified to
7:23 p.m., August 16, 2023
Joe Biden, criticized in the opposition for his reaction deemed timid in the face of the deadly fires in Hawaii, will travel next Monday, August 21, to the island of Maui. Joe Biden intends to assess in person “the consequences of the fires”, whose toll now exceeds 100 dead.
Joe Biden, criticized in the opposition for his reaction deemed timid in the face of the deadly fires in Hawaii, will travel next Monday, August 21, to the island of Maui. The American president, accompanied by his wife Jill Biden, will “meet rescue teams, survivors as well as official officials”, announced his spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre on Wednesday in a press release.
Joe Biden intends to assess in person “the consequences of the fires”, whose death toll now exceeds 100, and “discuss the next steps in the relief operations.” The Democratic president “continues to orchestrate a government-wide response” federal and “promised to provide the people of Hawaii with everything they need,” said his spokesperson.
No public statement last weekend
The White House estimates that the search operations for victims will be at the beginning of next week “at a stage which allows a presidential visit”, an event mobilizing significant logistical resources and involving a considerable security device.
Joe Biden had quickly declared a situation of natural disaster in Hawaii, which makes it possible to deploy emergency assistance resources from the federal state, and met several times with the governor of the state, Josh Green. But he was criticized by the Republican opposition for his response deemed insufficient or even indifferent to these fires, the deadliest in more than a century in the United States. The US president quickly mentioned the disaster at the start of a speech last Thursday in Salt Lake City, Utah.
But he did not speak publicly when the toll worsened dramatically over the past weekend. Tuesday, Joe Biden, visiting a factory in Wisconsin (north), devoted the beginning of his speech to the Pacific archipelago, and assured the inhabitants: “everything you will need, you will have it .”