President Joe Biden, days away from leaving office and likely retiring from politics for good, became a great-grandfather on Wednesday when his granddaughter Naomi gave birth in Los Angeles, sharing the “good news” even as three large wildfires raged nearby.
The good news is, I’m a great-grandfather as of today,” Biden, 82, said during a briefing on the blazes that have caused billions of dollars worth of damage and killed at least two people.
I’ll remember this day for a lot of reasons,” the president told reporters at a Santa Monica fire station. Biden then declined to answer any questions about the devastation, including about any federal environmental policies that could have contributed to the scope of the disaster.
The destroyed buildings did not include Hunter Biden’s Malibu home, according to the president, the New York Post reported.
“It’s astounding what has happened,” the commander-in-chief said. “Only one piece of good news: my son lives out here and his wife. They got a notification yesterday that their home was probably burned to the ground. Today, it appears that it’s still standing, they’re not sure.”
The Post added: “Biden visited Cedars-Sinai Hospital for the birth in the morning before receiving the fire briefing as smoke filled the sky of America’s second-largest city. Details about the new arrival, including the baby’s name and sex, were not immediately clear.”
As wildfires continue to consume Los Angeles County, forcing residents to flee for safety, a resurfaced video of now-President-elect Donald Trump discussing California’s fire management policies has gone viral.
The clip, from a three-month-old appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, features Trump’s sharp criticism of California’s environmental policies and inadequate forest maintenance. With three major wildfires raging and no containment in sight, Trump’s comments are now being reconsidered in the context of the ongoing crisis.
In the podcast, Trump addressed California’s failure to build water reservoirs and manage its forests, which he claimed were crucial in preventing catastrophic wildfires.
They said, ‘We have no water,’” Trump told Rogan. “I said, do you have a drought? ‘No, we don’t have a drought.’ I said, why do you have no water? ‘Because the water isn’t allowed to flow down.’ It’s got a natural flow from Canada all the way up north, more water than they could ever use. And in order to protect a tiny little fish, the water up north gets routed into the Pacific Ocean. Millions and millions of gallons of water gets poured.”
Trump’s remarks underscore a long-standing frustration with environmental regulations that aim to protect the delta smelt, a small fish native to California’s waterways, putting the species over the needs of Californians — a mistake being borne out again as massive fires sweep across the state causing tens of billions in damage.
“I could have water for all of that land, water for your forests,” Trump continued. “You know your forests are dry as a bone.” He explained that simple maintenance measures, such as clearing deadfall and raking leaves, could save billions in annual fire damage.
