Wildfire damage in Hawaii
Wildfire damage in HawaiiReuters

US President Joe Biden's comment about one of the cadaver dogs working in the Maui disaster area has drawn online criticism of the President's perceived insensitivity to the situation.

“You guys catch the boots out here? That’s a hot ground, man,” President Biden joked while petting a cadaver dog, Dexter, and chatting with first responders in Lahaina in a video shared by self-proclaimed “news breaker” Greg Price on Monday evening.

The New York Post reports that the comment referred to the protective boots used to protect the dog's paws from hot ground and wildfire debris. Hawaii Gov. Josh Green noted that recovery efforts in the worst-hit areas took time in part because the search dogs could only work for about 15 minutes at a time before their paws overheated.

More than 100 individuals are dead in the fires that broke out on August 8, and approximately 800 are still missing. The Maui wildfires are the nation’s worst in over 100 years. As of Tuesday, many of the dead are feared to be children who were home after severe weather postponed the start date for local schools.

President Biden’s comment drew negative reactions online, alongside existing criticism about having refused to comment on the disaster for several days.

“Bro is sightseeing and trying to be comic relief for the tour. No sense of what has happened there at all,” wrote a “homeschool dad” whose bio on X (formerly Twitter) describes himself as a MAGA conservative.

Another account blasted the hot ground remark as “poor taste,” while a third chimed in that the octogenarian reminded them of Mr. Burns from “The Simpsons.” The Republican National Committee accused Biden of being “distracted” by the dog. One user posted a graphic of the popular far-right rallying cry “F–k Joe Biden,” to which another replied, “As a Lahaina resident, I second that.”

President Biden also faced criticism for telling a room full of displaced Lahaina residents that he and first lady Dr. Jill Biden “have a little sense” of their grief and trauma due to a small kitchen fire at their Wilmington home almost 20 years ago, and for the executive treatment provided for his remarks upon arrival.

When Biden touched down in Maui earlier in the day, locals held up signs reading 'Go Home, Joe!' and 'No Comment', another reference to the President's decision not to address the disaster for some time. Others displayed Donald Trump campaign posters or flags.

“Any number of military aircraft, planes, and helicopters could have flown in here. To leave a town that was just devastated and shut down was just ridiculous. The runway wasn’t cratered,” western Maui resident Dennis Mullan, 58, told The Post of the federal government’s perceived lack of attention to the wildfire recovery.

Members of the president’s team were unimpressed by the backlash.

“He’s petting one of the dogs that’s working hard searching for remains so survivors who’ve lost loved ones can have closure,” White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates tweeted of the response to Biden’s interaction with Dexter. “This criticism is classless and stupid."