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Outgoing US President Joe Biden raised eyebrows with his use of the phrase “fire away!” while addressing speakers, during a White House briefing on the ongoing Los Angeles wildfires on Thursday.
After outlining the federal government’s plan to assist local officials in managing the disaster, Biden passed the floor to Vice President Kamala Harris, with a quick joke.
“Madam vice president, I know you’re directly affected, so you fire away!,” Biden said to Harris, a California native who responded with a startled expression.
He quickly added, “No pun intended,” noting her reaction.
Similarly, Biden used the same questionable phrase with US Forest Service Chief Randy Moore, saying “Chief, why don’t you fire away?”
The criticism followed Biden’s remarks during a visit to a Santa Monica fire station, where he said, “the good news is I’m a great-grandfather as of today”, which many deemed tactless given thousands of residents were evacuating their homes.
The outgoing president, known for his verbal missteps, defended fellow Democrats, including Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, while accusing the local power companies of being responsible for dry fire hydrants, a claim swiftly denied by the region’s electricity providers.
Biden explained that power companies had cut electricity to prevent explosions and additional fires, which consequently affected hydrant water pressure.
“What I know from talking to the governor is that there are concerns out there that there’s also been a water shortage. The fact is, the utilities understandably shut off power because they’re worried the lines that carry energy were going to be blown down and spark additional fires,” Biden said, the New York Post reported.
“There’s a direct correlation between the utility company and the ability to pump water out of a hydrant. And so it allows for a lot of uninformed people to make assertions or concerns or accusations about the local officials not caring or not working,’ he added.
The 82-year-old president faced criticism for his choice of words, which many deemed inappropriate given the widespread devastation caused by the wildfires, as flames ravaged 30,000 acres across Los Angeles and claimed at least five lives.
Derek Hunter, a columnist for Townhall.com, criticising Biden through a social media post said, “Most of the time, Joe Biden is just a mean, vindictive person (has been his whole career), but in this case I think this can be blamed on his senility.”
The Spectator contributing editor Stephen Miller remarked, “Even Kamala at this point is like ‘You serious dude?'”
In a separate post, the Libs of TikToK commented: “Completely tone deaf.”
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