“$115,000,000,000 BILLION US TAX PAYER DOLLARS TO UKRAINE…$1.9 million dollars to American Maui fire victims. Biden hates Americans…” Mr. Schneider posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The comments accompanied a screenshot of a story with the headline “White House Defends Biden’s ‘No Comment’ Maui Wildfire Response” by the National Review.
Vacationing Biden ‘No Comment’
It was over the weekend that when asked during a bike ride in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, whether he would go to Maui to assess the damage, President Biden replied, “We’re looking at it.” Later that day, while at the beach, he was asked about the rising death toll on the island, and he replied, “No comment.”During a press briefing on Monday, when a reporter queried White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre whether President Biden should be spending time on the beach during such a catastrophic crisis, Ms. Jean-Pierre pointed to press reports noting President Biden’s communication with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
When pressed again about those critical of President Biden being on vacation during the wildfire, Ms. Jean-Pierre said the president is “deeply concerned and has mobilized a whole-of-government response.”
The wildfires, which started spreading uncontrollably on Aug. 8, have been deemed the deadliest in the United States in over a century. The death toll currently stands at 110. Identification of loved ones has been challenging because remains are mostly unrecognizable, and fingerprints are rarely found.
The historic portions of Lahaina in western Maui have been completely destroyed.
Others Critical of Ukraine Prioritization
Meanwhile, others like Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna have also taken to social media to express their dismay over Biden’s prioritization of sending aid to foreign countries like Ukraine rather than the Hawaii fire victims here at home.“It’s unfortunate to see an American President continue to prioritize sending aid to foreign countries when Hawaii just experienced its most devastating wildfire to date,” wrote Luna on X. “Families are devastated and have lost everything they own, and death tolls continue to rise.”
Earlier this week, the State Department announced a new $200 million military aid package for Ukraine. It includes missiles for the M142 HIMARS and the Patriot air defense system, Javelin rockets, munitions for howitzers and tanks, mine-clearing equipment, and munitions.
“The United States and our allies and partners will stand united with Ukraine, for as long as it takes,” he said.
This latest round of aid comes shortly after Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin H. Kahl announced an $800 million aid package for Ukraine last month. Those funds were designed to meet the “urgency of the moment” as Ukrainians continue to try to break through Russia’s defensive lines.
That’s as Biden on Monday announced survivors of the Maui fires would receive “a one-time $700 payment per household.” Some estimates have come out to a meager $1.9 million to the state’s fire victims, while the federal government keeps on sending tens of billions of dollars to Ukraine, with Congress approving $113 billion to the country in 2022 alone.
Critics Struggle to Make Sense of Response to Tragedy at Home
Former Hawaii state Rep. Mark Kaniela Ing, a Democrat who now serves as national director of the Green New Deal Network, said in a now-deleted post, “I campaigned for you. Now, when I lose dozens of my friends, family, and neighbors. This?”“When things like this happen, it’s really the time to—if you do the kind of work I do, when the wave crests, you’ve got to paddle hardest,” he said. “When tragedies like this occur, it’s shocking to see people just conducting business as usual. On the one hand, you don’t want everyone to be in a perpetual somber mood, but on the other hand, how can you just carry on like that?”
“Families are devastated and have lost everything they own, and death tolls continue to rise,” Luna said in her video post on X. “Hawaii and the people of Hawaii are far more important than places like Ukraine.”
“When you have a president that has advocated for over $100 billion going to a foreign country that really we have no place investing in while actively ignoring what is happening in Hawaii and really helping Hawaii, I think that tells you exactly what you need to know about this president,” she added.
The Epoch Times reached out to the White House for comment.
