Hawaii horrified at Joe Biden comparing 114 deaths to almost losing a Corvette

US President Joe Biden caused widespread outrage by comparing the devastating Maui inferno to a kitchen fire that ‘almost’ destroyed his Corvette.

Residents of Hawaii were left stunned after US President Joe Biden made poorly-timed jokes and compared the inferno that killed more than 114 people to a minor kitchen fire.

Already facing criticism for vacationing during the blaze and having “no comment” for its victims, Biden arrived laughing about the “hot ground” before saying he knew how people felt because he almost lost his car once.

Biden’s “tone deaf” Hawaii visit comes as California cleans up from Tropical Storm Hilary and Texas braces for Tropical Storm Harold in one of the most dramatic starts to the US’s hurricane season in recent memory.

Arriving two weeks after the fire ripped through Maui, Biden laughed petting a rescue dog wearing boots to protect its paws from the scorching ground.

“You guys catch the boots out here?” Biden said smiling, before adding: “That’s some hot ground, man.”

‘Hot ground’: US President Joe Biden jokes about the protective boots being worn by a cadaver dog, which has been scouring the scorched earth searching for dead fire victims. Picture: AFP

The quip was unappreciated by observers online, with Harrison Metal founder Michael Dearing posting online that “nothing says leadership like yukking it up with the human-remains-sniffing dogs”.

Biden then told a room full of survivors that he knew how they felt because of a small kitchen fire at his Delaware home in 2004, which the local fire department has previously said was “insignificant”.

“I don’t want to compare difficulties, but we have a little sense -- Jill and I -- what it’s like to lose a home,” Biden told the Lahaina residents.

“Years ago now -- 15 years ago -- I was in Washington doing ‘Meet the Press.’ It was a sunny Sunday and lightning struck at home on a little lake that is outside of our home -- not on a lake, a big pond,” Biden said.

“And it hit a wire and came up underneath our home into the heating ducts, airconditioning ducts. And to make a long story short, I almost lost my wife, my ‘67 Corvette and my cat.”

A restaurant owner in Kihei, Maui, told The Daily Signal it was “the most despicable thing this president has ever said.”

US President Joe Biden and US First Lady Jill Biden arrived in Hawaii two weeks after the start of the devastating wild fires. Picture: AFP

Biden went on to say firefighters “ran into flames to save my wife and save my family”.

“All kidding aside, I watched the firefighters, the way they responded...You’re all crazy, thanks God. People who run into flames to save other people,” he said.

While the octogenarian president added it was “not a joke”, the Cranston Heights Fire Company previously refuted Biden’s characterisation of the incident that he claimed “almost lost a couple of firefighters”.

“This could be considered an insignificant fire as it did not lead to multiple alarms and did not need a widespread incident response throughout the county,” the department said in a statement. “The fire was contained in 20 minutes.”

Maui residents Etan Krupnick and Amanda Cassidywho both lost homes in the fires said the president was “tone deaf” and his delay in turning up “outrageous”.

The visit was widely criticised as “tone deaf”. Picture: AFP

“That is nothing that compares to what happened to our community, our beautiful little town, and the families and children that were lost,” Ms Cassidy told Fox. “I mean, a car and your kitchen is kind of just a little sad to hear.

“People really want to see you show up for us and provide an eighth of what you’re giving to Ukraine. It’s outrageous. Lahaina is so hurt right now.”

The White House called criticisms of Biden’s tone in Hawaii “classless and stupid”, and defended comments on a cadaver dog’s boots.

“He’s petting one of the dogs that’s working hard searching for remains so survivors who’ve lost loved ones can have closure,” said deputy press secretary Andrew Bates.

Originally published as Hawaii horrified at Joe Biden comparing 114 deaths to almost losing a Corvette