Jean-Pierre Defends Biden's Beach Weekend as Maui Burned, Calls Sen. Hirono 'He' (August 14, 2023)

On Sunday, President Joe Biden was at the beach in Delaware as the death toll on Maui neared 100. Asked about it, he said he had “no comment,” Fox News reported [2]. On Monday, a reporter put the question to the White House. “And on Hawaii, how does the White House respond to critics who have suggested that the President should not have been vacationing at the beach over the weekend as the Maui crisis became the worst wildfire in a century?” [1]

Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre answered with a list. “There’s more than 300 personnel — FEMA personnel. We’ve talked about the 50,000 meals. We’ve talked about 75,000 liters of water, the thousands of cots that are out there and blankets,” she said [1].

Then she tripped over Hawaii’s two senators. “Senator Hirono, who I said the President spoke to just last night — he [she] thanked the President for the immediate support federal agencies have delivered for residents of Hawaii. And so does — has — so has Senator Shortz — Sha- — Shartz — Schatz,” Jean-Pierre said [1].

The video above shows the exchange from the Aug. 14, 2023, White House briefing. Quotes are from the official transcript published by the American Presidency Project, which shows the “he [she]” correction [1].

”No Comment”

“After a couple hours on the Rehoboth beach, @potus was asked about the rising death toll in Hawaii,” Bloomberg’s Justin Sink posted on X. Fox News reported that “video later confirmed his account” [2].

Critics pounced. “The famous Biden empathy,” CNN political commentator Scott Jennings said. “It seems like the president should have something to say about that,” the Washington Examiner’s Byron York wrote [2].

On the ground, a Maui resident had told CNN he felt left on his own. “I’m not getting what I need from the government,” Cole Millington said. “We should have the Navy here. We should have the Coast Guard here. We should have helicopters here,” Fox News reported [3].

”Just Last Night”

Jean-Pierre’s own briefing told a different story about the Hirono call. At the top, she had said: “The President also spoke by phone on Friday with Senator Hirono” [1].

The briefing was on a Monday. Friday was three days earlier, not “just last night” [1].

Her answer also tracked, nearly word for word, a statement a White House spokesperson gave Fox News Digital. The written version got both senators right: “Senator Hirono also thanked President Biden for the immediate support federal agencies have delivered for the residents of Hawaii, as has Senator Schatz” [2].

”Rather Than Seeing Him on the Beach?”

The reporter followed up. “So, should the pe- — should the American people be seeing the President on the phone, working the phones, talking to officials, rather than seeing him on the beach?” [1]

Jean-Pierre pointed to pool reports. “The pr- — you all have gotten pool reports on who the President has connected with,” she said. “And I think that matters. I think that matters that the folks who are on the ground, the elected officials, are saying that they’re receiving the help that they need to deal with this devastating issue” [1].

”He Could Have Stopped by to See Us”

Another reporter asked whether Biden was being kept quiet. “Has the President been given any advice that he should not speak about Hawaii at this point? Because when he spoke the other day, he added that to planned remarks. The death toll has now roughly tripled. It’s now the worst in history. He had an opportunity — he could have stopped by to see us when he arrived back” [1].

“So, I — I could — you could expect to hear from the President on this issue,” Jean-Pierre said, then turned to FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell’s TV interviews. The reporter cut in: “I’m asking about the President’s voice in this” [1].

“No, I — I — no, I just said you’ll — you’ll hear from the President on this. I don’t have anything to announce at this time. But certainly, this is — he’s the president. Right? You’re going to hear from him,” she said [1].

Her example of hearing from him was a speech on another subject. “We did hear from him on Thursday — right? — when he was in Utah ahead of talking about the PACT Act,” Jean-Pierre said [1].

”I Don’t Have Any Calls”

Then came the simplest question of the day. “Aside from the statement from the President, has President Biden spoken to any family members of wildfire victims or plans to in the future?” [1]

“I don’t have any calls to — to — to speak to at this time,” Jean-Pierre said. “But I can say that, as you know, he’s been in — he’s heard from the governor a couple of times” [1].

The same reporter asked about calls from “a number of Democrats and progressives” to label the fire “a climate emergency.” Jean-Pierre said Biden “has called it an emergency since day one” and pointed to “$500 million from DPA to jumpstart heat pump manufacturing” [1].

”No Visit by the President”

Criswell, speaking from Maui, was asked whether Biden could visit “without interfering with the rescue effort.” She said, “Right now, we want to make sure that they have, you know, all of the resources and the space that they need and not disrupt operations right now” [1].

“So, no — no visit by the President is on schedule at this moment?” the reporter asked. Criswell said, “We just want to make sure that we are working to help this community identify everybody that’s missing” [1].

By the Numbers

96: victims found so far, as a reporter put it at the briefing [1].
3 percent: the share of the fire area cadaver dogs had covered, per the same reporter [1].
300-plus: FEMA personnel on the ground, per Jean-Pierre [1].
6 hours: how fast Biden signed the disaster declaration, as Jean-Pierre cited Gov. Josh Green [1].
102: people killed in the end, in “the nation’s deadliest wildfire in more than a century,” the AP reported [7].

What Happened Next

DeSantis took it to the debate stage. At the first GOP primary debate, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said, “Biden was on the beach while those people were suffering.” “He was asked about it, and he said, ‘No comment.’ Are you kidding me?” he said. “You’ve got to be there. You’ve got to be present,” Fox News reported [4].

Biden promised a trip. The next day in Milwaukee, Biden said, “My wife Jill and I are going to travel to Hawaii as soon as we can.” He praised “FEMA Administrator Griswell [Criswell; White House correction]—who’s the best we ever had, I think.” The transcript also corrected his count of beds from 500 to 5,000 [5].

He said “FEMA also authorized one-time payments of $700 per household to folks who have been displaced” [5].

The visit came 13 days after the fire. The White House announced that “the President and First Lady will travel to Maui on Monday, August 21” [6]. The fire had destroyed Lahaina on Aug. 8 [7]. For what Biden said when he got there, see HYGO News’ page on the Maui response and the Corvette story.

Trump went in his first week. Four days after he was sworn in, President Donald Trump toured the burned Pacific Palisades neighborhoods of Los Angeles with first lady Melania Trump [8][9]. “I don’t think you can realize how rough, how devastating it is until you see it,” Trump said. “The federal government is standing behind you, 100%” [8].

For more of Jean-Pierre’s answers checked against the record, see the Karine Jean-Pierre record page.