"Fire Away": Biden's Insensitive Pun During LA Wildfire Meeting Goes Viral
Kamala Harris looked at Jode Biden with a stunned expression, prompting the president to add: "No pun intended."
US President Joe Biden has come under scrutiny yet again for an apparent gaffe while heading a meeting to discuss the Los Angeles wildfires. Surrounded by Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House's Roosevelt Room, the outgoing president said "fire away, no intended" as federal response to the catastrophic event was discussed.
"Madam vice president, I know you're directly affected, so you fire away," said MR Biden as he handed over the meeting to Ms Harris.
Ms Harris looked at Mr Biden with a stunned expression, prompting the president to add: "No pun intended."
While the first pun may have been a slip of the tongue, Mr Biden made the same blunder again when he told US Forest Service Chief Randy Moore: "Chief, why don't you fire away?"
Mr Biden and California Governor Gavin Newsom have been criticised for not stepping up when one of the richest regions in the country burned. Social media users were not impressed by Mr Biden's attempted pun and slammed him for not maintaining the decorum of the office.
"Is the empathy in the room with you now?" wrote one user, while another added: "Wow the face she [Harris] made said it all."
A third commented: "Another "classy" move from our "fearless" leader."
10 days left until we have a President who cares about the American lives lost in the California wildfires and doesn't joke about it.
— Colton Blake ?? (@ColtonBlakeX) January 10, 2025
Joe Biden: "Fire away. No pun intended."
Even Kamala Harris is embarrassed. pic.twitter.com/Z8YgJ1qFmg
Mr Biden, who is the last essay of his presidential stint, has been a gaffe-producing machine in the last few years. His cognitive decline was one of the reasons why the Democratic Party got him to drop out of the presidential race midway into the campaign last year.
Los Angeles wildfires
Since the wildfires started, they have ripped through over 30,000 acres of Los Angeles County in just a few days, killing 10 people in the process. The LA wildfires are poised to become one of the costliest natural disasters in US history, with estimated losses already surpassing $135 billion.
The total losses could reach as high as $150 billion, making it one of the most expensive wildfires the country has ever seen, BBC has reported.
Though wildfires occur naturally, scientists claim that human-caused climate change is altering weather and changing the dynamics of the blazes. Two wet years in Southern California have given way to a very dry one, leaving ample fuel dry and primed to burn.
