Hawaii Democrat slams Biden’s 'no comment' response to reporters’ questions about deadly Maui wildfires

Former Hawaii Democrat State Rep. Mark Kaniela Ing slammed President Joe Biden’s “no comment” response to reporters’ questions about the deadly wildfires in Maui as "shocking."
 
On Sunday, Justin Sink, Bloomberg’s White House correspondent reported that Biden gave the response during his Delaware beach vacation after being asked about the growing death toll following the wildfires.

According to Fox News, Kaniela Ing, who now serves as national director of the Green New Deal Network, wrote in a now-deleted post, "I campaigned for you. Now, when I lose dozens of my friends, family, and neighbors. This?"

Kaniela Ing told Fox News on Monday, "I think everyone deserves some time to take care of themselves, wind down, but, as someone in a leadership role, you need to be ready any moment to offer some empathy and solace and comfort to people that are facing a lot of trauma right now.”

He continued, "Whether or not it was as dismissive as originally reported, it is quite disappointing," adding, "I would expect more."

"He should be talking about what he’s done and what he will do," Kaniela Ing noted. "The talking and offering words of solace and comfort, great. I'm not too hung up on that, to be honest. What I'm looking for is action."

Kaniela Ing told Fox, "…these disasters are going to keep happening more frequently and more severe," and that his organization wants Biden to "Declare a climate emergency. Deny fossil fuel permits, and invest substantial federal funds to the tune of $1 trillion a year."

“Hawaii came out for Biden in a big way, and I think President Biden and anyone running for president right now needs to address this head-on, not just in terms of immediate relief, but in longer-term recovery and accountability."

Following the backlash, Biden later released a statement on X announcing that $700 per household would be provided to those impacted by the fires.