This is just embarrassing for Lauren Boebert
The recent Maui wildfires have claimed at least 101 lives so far, as of this writing, making it the worst natural disaster in Hawaii’s history and the deadliest in the United States in over a century. You would hope that whoever is the President of the United States during such a tragic occurrence would take it seriously and act promptly to ensure help gets to where it’s needed.
Fortunately, President Joe Biden has replaced that paper towel-throwing ogre known as Trump, and Biden has wasted no time directing the federal government to support Hawaii. Lauren Boebert, desperate to paint Biden as the bad guy even as Trump takes another bath in a sea of criminal indictments, could only ask over the weekend, “Where’s Joe Biden?” Her sarcastic answer: “On vacation of course. There is no bottom for this president.”
Boebert wants us to think that Biden acted like Ted Cruz, who infamously fled his state as it faced a wintry disaster, to vacation with his family in Cancun. However, Biden was simply at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. As Vice President Kamala Harris made clear last Friday, they were both avoiding travel to Maui because they “don’t want to distract from the resources that need to go into the victims” and wanted to prevent pulling first responders’ attention away from their job.
That came a day after Biden approved a Hawaii Disaster Declaration, declaring a major disaster, ordering aid, and appointing a FEMA coordinator for recovery operations. The day before that, Biden issued a statement expressing condolences as well as initiating swift action. This included mobilizing Chinook and Black Hawk helicopters for fire suppression and rescue, coordinating with commercial airlines to evacuate tourists, and more.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell arrived on Maui over the weekend on Biden’s orders, charged with streamlining aid requests. In a new fact sheet, the White House detailed the Biden-Harris administration’s “robust whole-of-government response” to the Maui wildfires. Almost 500 federal personnel have been deployed to assist Maui residents, and FEMA has provided 50,000 meals, 75,000 liters of water, 5,000 cots, and 10,000 blankets and shelter supplies—and that’s just two of the 16 bullets summarizing the strong federal response thus far.
Rather than join Biden, Harris, Criswell, and others in doing something to aid the rescue and recovery efforts in Hawaii, Boebert is the one who keeps pushing the bottom lower with her cheap, fake, and uncalled for criticism. Fortunately, there are grownups in government who know how to respond effectively to a crisis, eager to help Americans no matter whom they voted for in the last election. However, as Boebert keeps reminding us, she obviously isn’t one of them.
Ron Leshnower is a lawyer and the author of several books, including President Trump’s Month