White House defends Hawaii wildfire response saying President Biden is ‘deeply concerned’

The White House defended President Joe Biden’s federal response to the devastating wildfires in Hawaii on Monday saying the president is “deeply concerned” and sending federal aid.

Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre spent the first half of Monday’s press briefing focusing on Mr Biden’s federal action to assist officials and residents in Maui.

“You’ve heard from [Mr Biden] already on Thursday, certainly you’ll hear from him continuously this week,” Ms Jean-Pierre said. “Look, this is something that the President is clearly deeply concerned about.”

Ms Jean-Pierre’s statement was in defence of Mr Biden who has faced criticism for what some believe to be an emotionally indifferent approach to addressing the fires.

Despite declaring the fires to be a major disaster last week, Mr Biden nor Vice President Kamala Harris have plans to visit Hawaii which has led to critique.

Ms Jean-Pierre was joined by Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to answer questions about the federal government’s efforts in Maui.

Ms Criswell insisted that the Biden administration has coordinated federal agencies with local and state officials to assist in search and recovery efforts.

At least 96 people have died as a result of the outrageous wildfires which swept across parts of Maui and other parts of Hawaii last week.

That number is expected to go up, according to Hawaii governor Josh Green, as cadaver dogs and teams search burned buildings for victims or survivors.

So far, the cadaver dogs have only searched three per cent of the search area. They are expected to continue that search this week.

Hundreds of other Hawaiians are still missing and thousands of people are displaced as many homes and buildings were destroyed.

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