Opinion

Joe Antoinette Biden lies to survivors, makes it all about himself in Hawaii

Last week, when President Biden announced his trip to Maui, The Post asked: How much do you want to bet he will act inappropriately to family members and try to make it all about himself?

If there was anyone dumb enough to take that bet, it’s time to pay up.

Even by Joe’s low standards, this trip was a debacle. Our tone-deaf commander-in-chief takes off from the Lake Tahoe home of a Democratic donor, does a fly-by of the island, then turns around to go back on vacation. Mission accomplished!

President Biden speaks during his visit to the fire-ravaged town of Lahaina on the island of Maui in Hawaii, on Aug. 21, 2023. REUTERS
Biden and first lady Jill Biden are accompanied by Hawaii Gov. Josh Green and his wife during a visit to the fire-ravaged town of Lahaina on the island of Maui on Aug. 21, 2023. REUTERS

While on the ground, Biden points at some burned-out buildings, stiffly shakes hands with some first responders, and puts on a facial expression that’s meant to convey “serious” when it more resembles rigor mortis.

The Biden team set up a presidential lectern in the middle of the rubble, which is bad enough, but they also brought along a tiny little table to set his water on. Gotta make sure Joe Antoinette Biden doesn’t get thirsty. Guess we should be grateful they didn’t bring a teleprompter, which is why he stared at his speech the entire time.

Then Biden decided the best way to show Hawaii that he cares is to lie. Again. He recounted the harrowing moment firefighters had to “run into the flames” of his home to save his wife, Jill.

Biden and the first lady participate in a blessing ceremony with the Lahaina elders at Moku’ula following wildfires in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Aug. 21, 2023. AFP via Getty Images
Biden and the first lady walk to board Air Force One after visiting the site of the devastating Maui wildfires and the ongoing recovery efforts, on Monday, Aug. 21, 2023, in Kahului, Hawaii. AP

This. Never. Happened. For years, Biden has turned a minor kitchen blaze into the Great Chicago Fire, even after the Delaware department he praises says it was “insignificant.”

The press tries to gaslight us by saying that Biden recounting this fire, or insisting his son Beau died in Iraq when he really died of cancer, resonates with victims. “Biden … has long been seen as uniquely adept at leading with empathy amid tragedies like this one,” the Washington Post claimed this week.

But this isn’t empathy. This is ego. And it’s insulting.

A myth has been constructed around Joe Biden: He’s the great negotiator. He’s the empathizer-in-chief. He’s Mr. Even-Keeled. None of these things are true. They probably never were true. We can see it with our own eyes.