President Joe Biden returned to Washington on Monday morning after relaxing on the sand at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware all weekend—even as the death toll from a horrific wildfire on Hawaii’s island of Maui neared 100, making it the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century. Biden told reporters on Sunday morning that he was “looking at” a trip to Lahaina, which was destroyed by the blaze. But, when asked again about the fire hours later as he returned home from a leisurely day in the sun, Biden refused to comment—sparking backlash from Republicans who said he was insufficiently attentive to the suffering of his constituents. Residents of Maui, meanwhile, told The New York Times that the federal response to the disaster has been almost nonexistent—and that they’ve received far more help from private volunteers and fundraisers.
