Joe Biden has a reputation as a particularly empathetic politician. He didn’t do justice to that during the fire disaster in Hawaii. Now he’s visited Lahaina – or what’s left of the city.
It’s a miracle that the sprawling banyan tree that Joe Biden stood next to on Monday in Lahaina is still standing. For once, the US President refrained from making any joke about his age, although a comparison with the 150-year-old landmark of the Hawaiian royal city had almost come to mind. In too spooky surroundings, however, this now towers into the sky. Almost the entire city on Maui’s west coast was destroyed by forest fires on August 8, at least 114 people are dead and more than 800 are missing.