Could Biden’s botched federal response and his epic failure to empathize with the survivors of the Hawaii wildfires turn the state red in 2024?
In 2004, some shock polls suggested that the state of Hawaii was actually competitive. Out of four polls that were conducted, the final two showed George W. Bush winning by a razor-thin margin. This prompted the Bush campaign to send Vice President Cheney to the Aloha State, hoping the polls would be correct Since becoming a state, Hawaii had only voted Republican twice before, so it was a long shot.
Of course, John Kerry did ultimately win Hawaii that year, but, as Wikipedia notes, the 2004 election was “the last time Hawaii was decided by a single-digit margin, the last time a Democratic candidate for president failed to receive 60% of the vote in Hawaii, and also the last time a Republican received more than 35% of the vote here.”
I dare say there’s a chance that Biden screwed up so badly with Hawaii that voters in the state may turn on him in the next election.
After ignoring the state for weeks, Biden was finally shamed into visiting on Monday. While speaking with survivors, Biden attempted to express empathy for their loss by sharing a fictionalized anecdote. “I don’t want to compare difficulties, but we have a little sense — Jill and I — what it’s like to lose a home,” he began before recounting a story from 15 years ago when lightning struck his home, causing a small fire that was, no joke, contained to the kitchen. Biden nevertheless claimed, “I almost lost my wife, my ’67 Corvette, and my cat.” It was despicable and insensitive, and the backlash has been significant.
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According to a report from The Daily Signal, there is incredible anger at Joe Biden over the poor federal response, and Biden’s ridiculous attempt to compare people who’d lost their homes, possessions, and loved ones to the wildfires.
“This is the most despicable thing this president has ever said,” a restaurant owner declared. “How do you compare almost losing your f—ing Corvette to the children burned in their f—ing homes, man?”
“There are no words in response to something like that,” a resident named Kristen Goodwin told the Daily Signal. “There’s a thousand people still missing on this island, business owners who want people to come back, and who is going to come to a secluded island with people still missing?”
According to Goodwin, she voted for Joe Biden in 2020 but is refusing to vote for him in 2024. “I’m not voting for him again—that’s for sure. I’ll vote for Trump. I will never vote for him again.”
Joe Biden’s reputation for being a man of empathy was already tarnished by the time he got to Hawaii on Monday, and he pretty much destroyed it after showing up and comparing the loss of life in Hawaii to losing a car. “How can a leader be so insensitive and lack the level of compassion of a basic human being? What happened to ‘extending kindness and care?’ I am so disappointed in Biden—and I am a Democrat,” resident Leslie Santos said.
The devastation in Hawaii will take significant time to recover from, and Hawaiians aren’t likely to forget this slight anytime soon. And, frankly, the political fallout from Biden’s failure in Hawaii isn’t likely to be contained to the state. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina—and the perception of a weak federal response to the disaster—weakened George W. Bush for the remainder of his second term, even though it was actually local leaders who botched the response.
Hawaii is by no means a battleground state, but Biden has offended Hawaiians so badly that I dare say he’s added yet another reason for Democrats to want to replace him on the ballot.
