President Joe Biden continued to tell officials to “blast away” as he was briefed on the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles on Thursday.
Biden called on Vice President Kamala Harris and other federal officials to give him an update on the status of the wildfires — as three major blazes continued to burn through homes and businesses in Southern California.
The president spoke first and then turned the conversation to Harris — a California resident whose home in Brentwood is threatened by the fires.
“I know it’s directly affecting you, so fire away,” Biden said, causing Harris to grimace. “No pun intended,” the president added.
As he had other officials take turns, he used the phrase three more times, sparking online outrage as the first conversation with Harris began going viral.
“People have lost their homes and some even lost their lives and this guy is making jokes,” said one X user. “Man sure knows when to make a one-liner,” another offered.
Biden also used the meeting to subtly call out President-elect Donald Trump for politicizing the fires — and tried to quell some of the misinformation being spread about water shortages.
“You’re all doing a great job,” he told his team. ‘And unfortunately we have learned so much. And there’s, in case you haven’t noticed, global warming – it’s changing weather patterns,” he said.
President Joe Biden (right) listens during a wildfire briefing in the Roosevelt Room on Thursday with Vice President Kamala Harris (center). He continued to tell officials to “shoot away” when it was their turn to speak
One of the terrifying images taken from the Eaton Fire Wednesday in Altadena, California, as thousands of homes in the Los Angeles area have burned in recent days
“The more we can explain to the American people in clear, straightforward, honest English, or whatever language they understand, exactly what is happening, the more likely we are to get this kind of support and not make a political deal.” to get out of this,” Biden continued.
Trump has railed against the leadership of California Governor Gavin Newsom – who could launch a bid for the White House in 2028 – and called on the Democrat to resign.
“I’m leaving this office very soon, but it’s not about the politics, it’s about giving people the assurance that we’re going to get this under control, but it’s going to take time,” Biden said.
He praised both Newsom and Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
“During a crisis, rumors and fear spread very quickly,” the president also warned.
All kinds of conspiracy theories about the fires have surfaced on platforms like X – which is owned by Trump’s current best friend, Elon Musk.
Musk has insisted that DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) policies used by the Los Angeles fire chief are responsible for the failure to quickly bring the fires under control.
“DEI means people DIE,” Musk posted on his social media platform Wednesday evening.
Biden clarified what happened when some firefighters failed to get water from hydrants to fight the fires.
“And one of the problems was that people don’t understand that when these high winds happen… these power poles, these really big lines… they fall to the ground in the middle of the woods,” Biden said.
“It’s not just about raking the leaves under the trees,” he continued, referring to comments Trump has made in the past about poor forest management.
“It’s about the fires that that causes and that’s why utilities have to cut off the ability to continue transmitting on those lines and there’s a consequence to that that I don’t think most people think about – no matter how well trained they are, unless they” If you get close, there is a direct correlation between the utility company and the ability to pump water from a fire hydrant.”
During the briefing, President Joe Biden subtly went after President-elect Donald Trump for playing politics with fire as Trump has used the natural disasters to attack California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, who is expected to be elected in 2028 will launch a presidential run.
“And so a lot of uninformed people may make claims or concerns or accusations about the fact that local officials don’t care,” Biden said.
Trump said on Truth Social that Newsom was responsible for the fire hydrants not working because of water policies, including protection of an endangered fish.
The incoming president also alleged that Newsom “refused to sign the water recovery declaration presented to him, which would have allowed millions of gallons of water from excess rain and snowmelt from the north to flow daily to many parts of California, including areas currently under burn in an almost apocalyptic way.’
Newsom’s spokesperson Izzy Gardon told CalMatters that that document does not exist.
“There is no such document as the Water Restoration Declaration – that is pure fiction,” Gardon said in a statement.
Another expert who spoke to the California fact-checking website said Trump’s comments do not take into account the state’s complex water supply system.
The president said one solution is for utilities to deploy generators now to ensure water pumping capacity is not hampered by power outages.
“I think we are on the right track,” the president also said. “I know it’s very, very, very difficult for families to deal with this.”
The president then talked about how his son Hunter’s neighborhood was affected.
“I have a relative who lives there and near where he lives. I’m not going to go into detail about where he lives. I think about 240 to 260 houses burned down. All but fourteen or fifteen.”
‘And everyone must evacuate. And people wonder, “When am I coming back? Will I ever find that photo album? Will I ever find that jewelry that my mother and my grandmother gave me? … There is so much fear being created,” the president continued.
Biden had returned from California on Wednesday evening with Hunter, his wife Melissa Cohen and baby Beau in tow.
The president was in Los Angeles on both official and personal business when the massive fires started.
He flew to LA on Monday after paying tribute to the victims of the New Year’s Day terror attack in New Orleans.
It was originally planned to travel to Thermen, California to announce the protection of hundreds of thousands of hectares of land from oil and gas drilling.
The president boarded “the Beast,” the presidential limousine, on Tuesday morning, leaving the vehicle ten minutes later and entering his hotel amid concerns about high winds.
The White House said Biden would not make the trip to Thermal due to “weather concerns” and would instead hold an event in Los Angeles.
Later, the White House announced that “today’s event will be moved to next week at the White House so that key stakeholders can attend,” as fires raged across the area.
On Wednesday, Biden went to Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles for the first time to meet his first great-grandson: William Brannon Neal, IV.
First lady Jill Biden (left) and President Joe Biden (right) welcomed their first great-grandchild on Wednesday: William Brannon Neal, IV (center) – the son of Naomi Biden and her husband Peter Neal
President Joe Biden (left) attended a fire briefing on the Los Angeles wildfires with California Governor Gavin Newsom (center) and Senator Alex Padilla (right) — and announced he had become a great-grandfather
A swimming pool was the only structure left in this image from the Eaton Fire Thursday in Altadena, California
Charred beachfront properties in Malibu that were destroyed or damaged by the Palisades Fire on Thursday
Flames from the Palisades Fire destroyed rows of beachfront homes in Malibu despite being close to the ocean
Granddaughter Naomi had a caesarean section planned, so that the Bidens knew in advance when she would be due.
What they didn’t expect was that Naomi would give birth in the middle of a major natural disaster, with neighborhoods burning just miles away.
Shortly after visiting Naomi and baby William in the hospital, the president attended a fire briefing at a Santa Monica firehouse along with California Governor Gavin Newsom and Senator Alex Padilla.
“There is only one good news,” Biden said.
“My son and his wife live here, and yesterday they were notified that their house had probably burned to the ground. Today it looks like it’s still standing, but that’s not certain,” Biden began. “But the good news is that as of today, I’m a great-grandfather.”
“My oldest granddaughter had a 10-pound girl, a boy,” he said, quickly correcting the child’s gender.