President Joe Biden was back on vacation Tuesday in Lake Tahoe after his long-haul day trip to Maui where he commiserated with wildfire victims by dredging up his own family tragedy and talking about a decades-old kitchen fire in his home.
The president continued on his nine-day stay at the $18 million home of billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer, following complaints that the rental may run afoul of a local county housing code.
He left Monday morning to visit wildfire victims and communities impacted by the historic blaze, after facing blowback for his earlier ‘no comment’ on the matter while vacationing at his Delaware beach house.
The White House listed no public events on Biden’s Tuesday schedule, and his vacation rental is located inside a private community, keeping him out of view. Pool reporters who traveled with the president to Hawaii and back peeled off from the president’s motorcade after 1 am early Tuesday morning in Nevada.
Biden’s Hawaii visit was meant to demonstrate the federal resolve to rebuild following fires that incinerated parts of historic Lahaina.
President Biden waved to reporters following his return to Reno-Tahoe International Airport after his visit to Hawaii. He is back on vacation in the rented home of billionaire Tom Steyer
President Joe Biden told a series of winding stories during a visit to Hawaii following devastating wildfires. He was back on vacation at the home of billionaire Tom Steyer on Tuesday
But he ended up offering meandering remarks where he spoke about a kitchen fire he once experienced.
He also mangled the name of Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz (calling pronouncing it like ‘Schantz”), and again invoked the 1972 death of his wife Nelia and daughter Naomi.
He also made an odd joke about ‘hot ground’ while commenting on the thick boots of a rescue dog named Dexter.
‘That’s a hot ground, man,’ Biden said.
‘Years ago, now 15 years ago, while I was in Washington doing Meet The Press, it was a sunny Sunday and lightning struck at home on a little lake outside our home – not a lake, a pond,’ Biden said, recalling the fire incident.
He said the spark went through the wires and into the heating ducts, and into the kitchen.
Biden is staying at the home of climate investor Tom Steyer. The White House said he is renting it at fair market value
‘To make a long story short, I almost my wife, my 67 Corvette, and my cat.
‘But all kidding aside – I watched the firefighters, the way they responded.’
It is an anecdote that Biden often tells at times of tragedy. Firefighters arrived to heavy smoke but were able to keep the flames contained to the kitchen.
‘Luckily, we got it pretty early,’ Cranston Heights Fire Company Chief George Lamborn said at the time.
‘The fire was under control in 20 minutes.’
Biden faced building pressure to visit the Maui devastation as the death toll approached 114 with hundreds more unaccounted for.
Now, he finds himself vacationing in Nevada, after tropical storm Hilary ripped through Southern California and drenched parts of both states. It brought record-breaking rainfall and flooded normally parched locations like Death Valley. Thousands are without power.
In the state where Biden is enjoying family time with first lady Jill Biden and son Hunter, officials fear ‘exceedingly rare’ high flood risks in the Mojave Desert.