The White House announced Wednesday that Joe and Jill Biden will visit the deadly fire zone on Maui next Monday after facing withering criticism over Joe Biden repeatedly saying “no comment” to reporters last weekend while on vacation at his Delaware beach home. Over 100 people were killed with another 1000-plus still missing.

Biden is scheduled to start a week-long at the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe on Friday. The White House did not indicate whether the vacation is scrubbed or how long Biden would stay in Hawaii.

Biden repeatedly blew off reporters begging for comment on Maui as he biked and lounged on the beach.

Biden biking in Delaware.

Reporters: "Mr. President, are you going to take questions about Maui? Can you come talk about Maui? Can you come talk about Maui, Mr. President?" pic.twitter.com/FRWESSlyW6

— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) August 13, 2023

After a couple hours on the Rehoboth beach, @potus was asked about the rising death toll in Hawaii

“No comment,” he said before heading home pic.twitter.com/Y0UmXirju9

— Justin Sink (@justinsink) August 13, 2023

"Any comment on the rising death toll in Maui?"

BIDEN: "No. No comment." pic.twitter.com/oORpRuLUpz

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 14, 2023

White House statement:

The President and First Lady will travel to Maui on Monday, August 21 to meet with first responders, survivors, as well as federal, state, and local officials, in the wake of deadly wildfires on the island.

In Maui, the President and First Lady will be welcomed by state and local leaders to see firsthand the impacts of the wildfires and the devastating loss of life and land that has occurred on the island, as well as discuss the next steps in the recovery effort. The President continues to marshal a whole-of-government response to the deadly Maui fires, and he has committed to delivering everything that the people of Hawaii need from the federal government as they recover from this disaster.

Over the past week, President Biden has stayed closely in touch with FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, Hawaii Senators Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz, as well as Hawaii Governor Josh Green, who advised that the search and recovery efforts are expected to be at a stage early next week to allow for a presidential visit.

The White House on Tuesday issued a “fact sheet” on the Biden administration’s response to the Maui fires (excerpt):

The Biden-Harris Administration has mobilized a robust whole-of-government response effort to support immediate and long-term rescue and recovery efforts in Maui, Hawaii. Since the onset of the horrific fires in Maui, dozens of Federal departments and agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security through FEMA and the Coast Guard, the Department of Defense through the Navy and Army, the Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Small Business Administration (SBA) have been working with state and local partners on the ground to assess ongoing needs and providing resources and personnel to support response efforts.

Last Thursday, within hours of the devastating fires, President Biden signed a Major Disaster Declaration for Hawaii, and as President Biden told Governor Josh Green, the Federal Government stands ready to provide additional assistance to ensure the state recovers. This weekend, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, U.S. Fire Administrator Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell and U.S. Small Business Administration Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman surveyed catastrophic damage on the island and hosted a local press conference to reiterate the Administration’s commitment to supporting impacted communities, however long it may take.

The Administration continues to encourage individuals impacted by the disaster to register for Federal assistance at www.disasterassistance.gov or by calling 1-800-621-3362.

Survivors have had to fend for themselves as government aid was slow to come:

Volunteers in #Hawaii are delivering essential goods via sea to victims of the wildfires that ravaged the town of #Lahaina.

Many of the displaced residents are staying just north of the town, some of them sleeping in tents on the beach.

FRANCE 24's @WassimCornet reports pic.twitter.com/AXzmV3FGwa

— FRANCE 24 English (@France24_en) August 14, 2023

Biden spoke about the Maui fires at an appearance in Milwaukee on Tuesday where he spoke about giving $700 “per household”:

Pres. Biden says he will travel to Hawaii "soon," adding, "I don't want to get in the way… I want to be sure we don't disrupt the ongoing recovery efforts." https://t.co/FhSgMMO9XU pic.twitter.com/B4HYNwnyYY

— ABC News (@ABC) August 15, 2023

The post Biden to Visit Maui Next Week After Criticism for “No Comment” Beach Vacation appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

In one unusual way, former President Donald Trump stands to benefit from his persecutors’ latest act of vengeance-inspired wrath.

On Monday, a grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia indicted Trump and 18 others on charges related to the 2020 presidential election. The former president and his fellow defendants have until Aug. 25 to surrender.

Meanwhile, the first Republican presidential debate looms on Aug. 23. Fox News will broadcast the debate in Milwaukee.

It’s unlikely Trump will participate. He has said he won’t sign a required pledge to support whoever wins the GOP primary race, and he has little incentive to show up, given his big lead in the polls.

Tuesday on “CBS Mornings,” CBS News senior White House and political correspondent Ed O’Keefe noted an opportunity for Trump. The former president, O’Keefe suggested, could steal attention from his competitors by surrendering on Aug. 23.

“Where would you rather be that day, in Milwaukee with everybody else or in that Atlanta courtroom? He knows that this has completely sucked oxygen away from everybody else running,” O’Keefe said, according to CBS News.

[ffad_ic1]

“So now he can potentially use this to his advantage even more,” O’Keefe added.

There will be cameras in the courtroom in Georgia, reports @edokeefe, marking a significant difference from the previous arraignments of former Pres. Donald Trump.

“That has a huge effect on the public perception of all of this,” says O’Keefe. https://t.co/jYYgEuy23W pic.twitter.com/zaEE0NVKm6

— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) August 15, 2023

The theory has merit, though not for the reason he implied.

If Trump chooses to surrender himself in Georgia on the day of the debate, he will do so not to distract attention from other Republican presidential candidates. After all, the latest RealClearPolitics average of polls shows the former president with a nearly 40-point lead over his closest challenger.

Instead, Trump has one good reason and one transcendent reason for surrendering himself on Aug. 23.

First, he has no cause to feel anything but contempt for executives at Fox News. If he can damage that moribund network by drawing viewers away from the Republican debate, he will.

Second — and far more important — he should appear in Georgia on Aug. 23 for posterity’s sake.

Our descendants, untainted by current passions, will marvel at the juxtaposition. One event, by its very name, exists to promote political debate. The other seeks to silence it.

Posterity should know that a criminal cartel indicted a former president for saying things with which cartel members disagreed. Future Americans might not read the indictment — who among us even now can bring themselves to read these farcical documents in their entirety? — but they should see the contrast on Aug. 23.

Indeed, we do not think enough about history. This statement, of course, has broader applications, but I mean it specifically with respect to this case.

No matter the day Trump chooses to surrender himself, it will mark his fourth arraignment since March 30.

Surely no one can treat any of this as normal.

But they do. The presidential debates continue as scheduled. O’Keefe offers his analysis on how a former president’s fourth indictment might affect a primary. It seems surreal.

However our descendants view these events, we may rest assured that they will not see them through the lens of polls and political strategy.

Instead, they will see that something in their ancestors’ world went very wrong.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.

The post Georgia Arraignment Likely to Backfire if Trump Picks Strategic Day to Turn Himself In appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.