Joe Biden slammed for his ‘insensitive’ comparison of Maui wildfires to 2004 minor fire in his kitchen

U.S. President Joe Biden has been facing severe backlash for comparing a minor fire incident at his home in 2004 to the deadly Maui wildfires, while trying to console the survivors, saying that he shared "a little sense" of what they were going through.

The 80-year-old president met the survivors of the Maui wildfires on Monday in Lahaina, sharing his empathy for them. During a 13-minute speech, Biden told the survivors that he and First Lady Jill Bide could relate to their plight because they knew what it was like to lose a home to a fire.

He recalled a personal experience when a small fire, caused by lightning, resulted in significant damage to his residence in Delaware.

"I don't want to compare difficulties, but we have a little sense, Jill and I, of what it was like to lose a home," Biden said. "Years ago, now, 15 years, I was in Washington doing 'Meet the press'... Lightning struck at home on a little lake outside the home, not a lake a big pond. It hit the wire and came up underneath our home, into the...air condition ducts."

He added, "To make a long story short, I almost lost my wife, my 67 Corvette, and my cat."

Biden then expressed his gratitude to the firefighters who risked their lives to save his family and possessions.

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Biden’s retelling of a 15-year-old minor small fire in the kitchen of his Delaware home invited criticisms from the people online, who accused him of being insensitive to the tragedy.

The Biden administration is already facing criticism that his government was too slow to respond to the disaster.

The Maui wildfires, the deadliest in over a century, caused widespread destruction on August 8 killing, at least 114 people and reducing the historic and tourist town of Lahaina almost completely to ashes.

Biden visited Maui on Monday after considerable pressure to pay a visit to the Island. The president and the first lady Jill Biden travelled by helicopter to the most affected areas on the island before meeting with local and community officials.

The couple also took to the air in Marine One, the presidential helicopter, to see the extent of the devastation that left the former royal capital in ashes.

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