Residents of the Hawaiian island of Maui are currently trying to pick up the pieces and recover from the ravages of a massive wildfire that brought death and destruction to the formerly idyllic Pacific island. They also expressed quite a bit of discontent and disappointment over the President’s visit to their island.
News on that comes from the New York Post, which noted that numerous residents of the island are upset with the president, both for his intentions in visiting and the limited amount of help and aid that they have so far received from the federal government as they struggle to recover.
One such resident quoted by the New York Post was Jay Awan, a 45-year-old resident of the scorched island. According to the New York Post, Mr. Awan said, when speaking about President Biden’s then-upcoming visit, “I don’t want him here. He’s just coming to Maui to look good in front of the cameras.”
Mr. Awan added that the island was like a warzone because of the destruction and that it would never be the same, saying, “It’s like a f*cking warzone here…Maui’s never going to be the same. Lahaina’s [a village on the island] never going to be the same. They’re going to put resorts up all along here — Lahaina is going to lose its character as an old whaling village. We can’t get the historical sites back.”
Another resident quoted by the NYP was Peter Friedgen, a 66-year-old guitarist. Mr. Friedgen said that he’s still waiting on the feds to show up and help, telling the NYP, “It’s a waiting game now for someone to show up — the government, insurers. I’ve just been down the beach, waiting for people to get into town.”
Similarly, 60-year-old accountant Kristi Bowman, told the NYP that she hadn’t yet received aid either, saying, “we haven’t had federal support. We’ve had local support, not federal.” Mr. Bowman added that the aid payments have been delayed, saying, “I filed an application for somebody for disaster funding and it already got denied, saying they didn’t have proof from the insurance company over how much their losses were — but there’s no possible way to get that information right now.”
Their spoken discontents compound the acted-out discontents of furious Maui residents who not-so-kindly welcomed President Biden to their island with a “Traitor Joe Must Go” sign and a slew of vulgarities hurled at his motorcade as he drove by.
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Their fury makes sense, as the fire has been an utter disaster for the island. Because of the roaring fires, at least 100 persons in Maui were killed and hundreds more were left missing. Though many Republicans have expressed outrage over the disaster and the poor handling of it, the island is a Democrat stronghold in which the left has won an almost unbroken string of victories since 1959, when it flipped blue more or less for good. Even with the anger directed Biden’s way, it seems unlikely that the firm grip Democrats have on the state will slip in the coming election.