CNN correspondent hails Biden as 'empathizer-in-chief' for Maui visit: 'Said the right things'

CNN's chief climate correspondent Tuesday praised President Biden as the "empathizer-in-chief" who said all "the right things" on his trip to Maui, Hawaii.

Biden briefly visited the area on Monday after historic wildfires ravaged the land and took the lives of over 110 people. More than 800 people, including children, remain missing.

Although Biden’s overall response to the wildfires, including the visit, has been criticized, CNN's Bill Weir praised each step, particularly for his attempt to relate to Maui citizens with personal stories.

"He did serve as empathizer-in-chief after five days of being mostly silent on the issue publicly, but the governor said he was working behind the scenes to assure first responders that the feds had their back on this. He shared the stories we’re familiar with, of losing his daughter and wife and wondering if his son had survived a car accident early in his political career. And that’s what so many people here are going through now," Weir said.

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One story Biden told that Weir didn't reference involved his claim of almost losing his home in a fire.

"I don’t want to compare difficulties, but we have a little sense, Jill and I, of what it was like to lose a home," Biden told wildfire survivors. "Years ago, now, 15 years, I was in Washington doing ‘Meet the press’… Lightning struck at home on a little lake outside the home, not a lake a big pond. It hit the wire and came up underneath our home, into the…air condition ducts.

"To make a long story short, I almost lost my wife, my 67 Corvette, and my cat," the president added.

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A 2004 report from the Associated Press, archived by LexisNexis, said lightning struck the Bidens’ home and started a "small fire that was contained to the kitchen." The report said firefighters got the blaze under control in 20 minutes and that they were able to keep the flames from spreading beyond the kitchen.

Maui citizens found his comments "tone-deaf."

"I think it was a little bit tone-deaf," Maui resident Amanda Cassidy said of Biden's comments from Monday. "However, I can understand how he was trying to meet us somewhere and say, ‘I understand,’ but unfortunately that is nothing that compares to what happened to our community, our beautiful little town and the families of children that were lost and disabled and the elderly. I mean, a car and your kitchen is kind of just a little sad to hear …"

Despite this, Weir claimed Biden "said the right things in many cases," including about the fears of "disaster capitalism."

"There was a question as to who will have the most influence in that conversation going forward. Locals here, working class, Native Hawaiians, and multigenerational locals are worried of disaster capitalism, people moving in to exploit this and buy up as much land as they can in this paradise and rebuild it for their interests as well. The president says — promises that that won’t happen. It remains to be seen. There’s a lot of forces at play here right now," Weir said.

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