Hawaii wildfires, Biden visits devastation, vows aid "for as long as it takes"
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Transcript
00:00 For more on this now, we are going to speak to Richard Johnson, who's a lecturer in US politics
00:04 at Queen Mary University in London. Good morning, sir. So it's not unusual for presidents to be
00:11 criticized in the wake of major natural disasters. But what are some of the criticisms that are
00:16 specific to the Biden administration following these wildfires in Hawaii?
00:20 Well, I think in a way, Joe Biden was damned if he did and damned if he didn't, because
00:26 from what I understand, the main criticism is that he took some time to get there. But when
00:32 we think about the scale of the devastation that went on, and the urgency of the recovery effort,
00:41 you can understand why he might have held back until it was clear that there probably weren't
00:46 going to be any more people found alive. And so I think that in this respect, I don't think it's a
00:54 particularly devastating criticism of the president. How much of a difference then,
00:59 if at all, do you think that Joe Biden's trip will make? Do you think he'll manage,
01:03 or is he managing to convince critics otherwise? Well, the American political scientist Richard
01:10 Neustadt once said that the president is aware of many different hats. And one of the hats that the
01:17 president wears is this role of consular in chief. It's a role that's usually more associated with
01:24 the president's position as head of state, rather than head of government. It's a non-partisan,
01:30 non-political role. And presidents can use that role to great effect. Barack Obama was particularly
01:37 good at being consular in chief. I think perhaps the most defining, or one of the most defining
01:42 moments of his presidency was when he went to Charleston after the racist attack in 2015,
01:47 and sang Amazing Grace at the eulogy of Reverend Clementa Pinckney. In contrast, other presidents
01:53 have suffered by being seen to be out of touch, or not striking the right tone. George W. Bush
02:01 suffered this when he went to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. I listened to Joe
02:07 Biden's speech in Hawaii. I don't think it was a fantastic speech. I think it was a relatively
02:14 genuine, heartfelt speech. He spoke about the loss that he has suffered in his life. He also talked
02:22 about a fire in his own home that meant he had to move out of his home. I'm not sure that quite
02:26 matched the level of the gravity of the moment. But certainly when he talked about the loss of his
02:33 first wife, his daughter, and his son, you could see that he really was trying to empathize
02:39 with residents in Maui. Richard, I think we're obligated to mention the political context as Joe
02:46 Biden continues on that visit. It of course comes as the presidential race is heating up, even though
02:51 it's a little bit over a year away. The Republicans are going to have their first debate on Wednesday.
02:56 What do you think we can expect to see from that, especially as Donald Trump confirmed that he will
03:00 not participate? Has the government's reaction to these wildfires in Hawaii figured in the
03:08 preparations for the Republicans as they look ahead to this debate? One of the roles that the
03:14 president plays when he wears this hat of consular in chief is to express the collective solidarity
03:22 of the American people to a particular state or locality that has suffered and to say,
03:27 look, the full strength, the full weight of the US government will be here to assist you.
03:34 I haven't heard any particular strong views to the contrary when it comes to Maui. I've heard
03:41 both from the right and the left a sense that the federal government should be there to support
03:46 people in Maui. To the extent that I've heard some political disagreement over this, it's when people
03:51 say, well, the United States is sending this, the Republicans might say the United States is spending
03:57 a great deal of money in Ukraine, that money should be redirected to disaster in Maui. I think
04:04 President Biden and the Democrats would say the United States is wealthy enough to do both.
04:10 It may come up in that framing in the Republican debate, but I don't think there'll be any
04:17 disagreement over the fact that FEMA, Federal Emergency Management Administration, should be
04:23 there on the ground in Maui lending assistance to people in Hawaii.
04:28 Richard Johnson, lecturer in US politics at Queen Mary University of London,
04:32 thank you very much for joining us today.
04:34 Thank you.
04:35 We'll stay in the United States then, Donald Trump.