White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre conveyed that President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden are offering their prayers to the victims of the Maui wildfires, a day after the president refrained from commenting on the tragic event.
In Monday’s press briefing, Jean-Pierre mentioned that the president and his wife are extending their thoughts and prayers to those affected by the Maui wildfires, which devastated the town of Lahaina.
“As the president said last week that he and the first lady are praying for families who are grieving their loved ones and for everyone who has suffered devastating losses of land and property as a result of the wildfires in Maui,” Jean-Pierre said.
“The president continues to stay closely engaged with his team and state and local officials to ensure a robust, whole-of-government response continues,” she added.
Jean-Pierre mentioned that since Sunday night, the president has maintained communication with FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell as well as state and local authorities.
This assertion by the president’s spokesperson contrasts with his decision not to provide a statement while at a Delaware beach on Sunday.
When asked for a comment, The White House referred to Hawaii Gov. Josh Green’s favorable remarks regarding the prompt federal response on Sunday. Green expressed to MSNBC that he greatly appreciated the president’s swift action.
“President Biden has mobilized and led a whole-of-government response to the wildfires in Hawaii from the beginning, working closely on it and receiving detailed briefings every day since,” a spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
“Yesterday he received two updates from FEMA Administrator Criswell while she was on the ground. As Governor Green stressed yesterday, within six hours of receiving Hawaii’s request, President Biden signed a Major Disaster Declaration and ordered all available federal resources in the state to help with the response.
Governor Green described this as having provided ‘amazing support for recovery.’ Senator Hirono also thanked President Biden for the immediate support federal agencies have delivered for the residents of Hawaii, as has Senator Schatz.
Like President Biden said on Thursday, ‘I’ve directed that we surge support to these brave firefighters and first responders and emergency personnel working around the clock […] I’m going to make sure the state has everything it needs from the federal government to recover.’”
