President Joe Biden, speaking this week to victims of the tragic Lahaina fires in Maui, compared the situation to a small fire in his home nearly two decades ago that was contained to his kitchen.
The Maui wildfires earlier this month killed well over 100 people, with more than 1,000 still unaccounted for, and destroyed nearly 3,000 structures, according to state and local officials.
Biden, who faced intense criticism early on for vacationing and seemingly not taking a personal interest in the tragedy, visited this island on Monday and generated more controversy with his remarks.
“I don’t want to compare difficulties, but we have a little sense, Jill and I, what it’s like to lose a home,” Biden said. “Years ago — now 15 years ago — I was in Washington doing ‘Meet the Press.’ It was a sunny Sunday, and lightning struck at home on a little lake that’s outside of our home — not a lake, a big pond — and hit a wire and came up underneath our home into the heating ducts — the air conditioning ducts.”
“To make a long story short, I almost lost my wife, my ‘67 Corvette, and my cat,” he continued. “But all kidding aside, I watched the firefighters, the way they responded.”
Biden said firefighters ran into the “flames” in his home “to save my wife and save my family. Not a joke.”
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“The smoke — and the firefighters here can tell you — sometimes smoke is so thick. From the windows out, it was that thick inside the home. And we were — we were insured. We did not have any problem, but being out of our home for a better part of a year was difficult,” Biden added. “I can only imagine what it’s like to lose your home completely burned to the ground.”
However, a report from the Associated Press at the time said that the fire was “small” and “contained to the kitchen.” The Delaware fire chief said they got to the home quickly, and the situation was under control in a matter of minutes.
WATCH:
Biden tells Maui wildfire victims, "I don't want to compare difficulties, but…" then tells a made up story about losing his house to a fire.
According to a 2004 AP report, it was “a small fire…contained to the kitchen” that “was under control in 20 minutes.” pic.twitter.com/DNY0Tyatg7
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 22, 2023