MSNBC “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough responded to criticisms directed at President Joe Biden — following his widely-panned gaffe-filled trip to Maui — and claimed they were little more than “shock opera nonsense” pushed by conservatives to make Biden look bad.
Citing a few Maui residents who were apparently pleased by the president’s visit – which came nearly two weeks after fires ravaged the Hawaiian island’s western shore, devastating the historic village of Lahaina — Scarborough argued that anyone who was criticizing him lived in an “alternate reality.”
“Note the overwhelmingly positive response from local residents in the Maui paper and the stark contrast compared to the shock opera nonsense pushed by Trumpy outlets today,” Scarborough said via X. “Same with the BS ‘sleep’ narrative that created an alternate reality.”
Note the overwhelmingly positive response from local residents in the Maui paper and the stark contrast compared to the shock opera nonsense pushed by Trumpy outlets today. Same with the BS “sleep” narrative that created an alternate reality. https://t.co/2veNviTjHc
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) August 23, 2023
Scarborough shared an article that quoted Lahaina’s mayor, Richard Bissen, as saying, “Hope. I think that’s the main thing. I think that’s what the president brings when he comes to any community. People look to him as our leader. We look at him as the one that controls all the federal agencies, and he is able to get things.”
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The article, which briefly mentioned the president’s visit, noted that he had been quick to sign a disaster declaration and had promised whatever aid Maui needed to recover and rebuild in the coming months.
But it left out some important context — namely that as the death toll in Maui began to climb, Biden was approached near his Rehoboth Beach vacation home and asked to weigh in on the tragic developments. His response quickly sparked criticism as he replied, “No. No comment.”
He returned to Washington from Rehoboth Beach for a short time before a Camp David summit with South Korean and Japanese leaders late last week and was on another vacation in Lake Tahoe when he jetted to Maui, spending just hours there before returning to Lake Tahoe.
While on the ground in Maui, Biden raised eyebrows by comparing a small kitchen fire — which was contained in a matter of minutes — to the massive fires that had destroyed homes and businesses in addition to taking more than 100 lives. He even joked with the devastated locals about how he had “almost” lost his cat and his ’67 Corvette.