Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre a direct question on Wednesday about President Joe Biden’s response to Hurricane Idalia.
By all appearances, the president has been intimately involved in the disaster response. He even eschewed politics and told reporters that he trusts DeSantis. Doocy’s question, then, sought to understand why Biden’s response to this natural disaster has been “robust” compared to his “no comment” response to the Maui wildfires.
“Did you guys realize that the initial Hawaii wildfire response was not that good, or is it just easier for people to get help from the White House when the president is not on vacation?” Doocy asked, referring to Biden’s vacations to Rehoboth Beach and Lake Tahoe this month.
The query visibly shocked reporters sitting near Doocy, including NBC News’ Peter Alexander and the Wall Street Journal’s Annie Linskey.
Doocy: “It seems like the hurricane response so far is robust. Did you guys realize that the initial Hawaiian wildfire was not that good or is it just easier for people to get help from the WH when [Biden] is not on vacation.”
In the next seat, NBC’s Peter Alexander was unamused pic.twitter.com/FzTKY1JESx
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 30, 2023
Jean-Pierre, of course, also was not pleased.
“So, the premise of your question and the way you posed your question, I disagree, just for the record,” she said.
According to the press secretary, Doocy should speak with Hawaii officials, who will allegedly inform him that Biden “reacted in record time” to the Maui wildfires. The officials she cited, the state’s governor and U.S. senators, are Democrats.
“If you were to do your reporting and speak to the governor of Hawaii, the senators of Hawaii, the folks on the ground, they would say that the president reacted in record time when it came to dealing with the wildfires, when it came to dealing and making sure that they got everything that they need on the federal level to deal with what was going on on the ground,” she said.
“So, your question is wrong — it’s flawed in many, many ways,” she declared.
Interestingly, Jean-Pierre did not instruct Doocy to speak with Maui residents, many of whom were critical of Biden over what they believed was a lackluster response.
