Biden uses awkward expression as he gets LA wildfire update

President Joe Biden kept telling officials to ‘fire away’ as he was briefed Thursday on the devastating Los Angeles wildfires. 

Biden assembled Vice President Kamala Harris and other federal officials to give him an update on where things stood on the wildfires – as three large fires continued to burn through homes and businesses in Southern California. 

The president spoke first and then turned the conversation to Harris – a California native and whose Brentwood home has been threatened by the blazes. 

‘I know you’re directly affected, so you fire away,’ Biden said causing Harris to make a face. ‘No pun intended,’ the president added. 

As he had other officials take their turns he used the phrase three more times, prompting an online outcry once the initial exchange with Harris started going viral. 

‘People have lost their homes and some have even lost their lives and this guy has jokes,’ on X user commented. ‘Guy sure knows when to make a one liner,’ another offered. 

Biden also used the meeting to subtly call out President-elect Donald Trump for politicizing the fires – and tried to tamp down some of the disinformation being spread around about water shortages. 

‘You all do a hell of a job,’ he told his team. ‘And we’ve learned, unfortunately so much. And there is, in case you haven’t noticed, there is global warming – it does change weather patterns,’ he said.  

‘The more we can explain to the American people in plain, straightforward, honest English, or whatever language they’ll understand, what exactly is happening, the more likely we’ll likely to get the kind of support and not make a political deal out of this,’ Biden continued. 

Trump has railed against the leadership of California Gov. Gavin Newsom – who could launch a 2028 White House bid – calling on the Democrat to resign.  

‘I’m leaving this office very shortly but it’s not about the politics it’s about giving people some kind of security that we’re going to get this under control but it’s going to take time,’ Biden said. 

He commended both Newsom and Los Angeles’ Democratic Mayor Karen Bass. 

‘In crisis, rumors and fear spread very quickly,’ the president also warned. 

All sorts of conspiracy theories about the fires have sprung up on platforms like X – which is owned by Trump’s current best buddy, Elon Musk. 

Musk has been pushing that DEI – diversity, equity, and inclusion – policies used by the Los Angeles fire chief are to blame for the fires not being quickly contained. 

‘DEI means people DIE,’ Musk posted to his social media platform Wednesday night.  

Biden clarified what was happening when some firefighters weren’t able to get water out of hydrants to fight the blazes. 

‘And one of the problems has been, that people don’t understand that, when these high winds occur … these utility poles, these whole big lines … they fall to the ground in the middle of the forest,’ Biden said.

‘It’s not about just raking the leaves under the trees,’ he continued, alluding to comments Trump has made in the past about bad forest management. 

‘It’s about the fires that that causes and so utilities have to shut down the ability to continue to transmit on those lines and there’s a consequence to that that I don’t think most people think – no matter how well educated they are unless they’re near it – there’s a direct correlation between the utility company and the ability to pump water out of a hydrant.’ 

‘And so it allows for a lot of uninformed people to make assertions or concerns or accusations about the local officials not caring,’ Biden said. 

Trump said on Truth Social that Newsom was responsible for the hydrants not working because of water policies including protections for an endangered fish. 

The incoming president also claimed that Newsom ‘refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snow melt from the North, to flow daily into many parts of California, including the areas that are currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way.’

Newsom’s spokesperson Izzy Gardon told CalMatters that that document doesn’t exist. 

‘There is no such document as the water restoration declaration – that is pure fiction,’ Gardon said in a statement. 

Another expert that talked to the California fact-checking website said Trump’s comments do not take into account the state’s complex water supply system. 

The president said one fix has been that utility companies are now bringing in generators to ensure that water pumping abilities are not hindered by power outages.    

‘I think we’re moving in the right direction,’ the president also said. ‘I know this is really, really, really difficult for families to have to deal with it.’ 

The president then mentioned how his son Hunter’s neighborhood was impacted. 

‘I have a family member who lives out there and the area where he lives, I’m not going to get into detail where he lives, I think there’s something like 240-260 homes that burned to the ground. All but 14 or 15 of them.’ 

‘And everybody has to evacuate. And people are going “when do I get back? Will I ever find that picture album? Will I ever find that jewelry that my mom, my grandma gave me? … There’s so much anxiety that’s generated,’ the president continued. 

Biden had returned from California Wednesday night with Hunter, his wife Melissa Cohen and baby Beau in tow. 

The president was in Los Angeles on both official and personal business when the massive fires began. 

He flew to LA Monday after paying tribute to the victims of the New Year’s Day New Orleans terror attack.

He was originally scheduled to travel to Thermal, California to announce the protection of hundreds of thousands of acres of lands from oil and gas drilling. 

The president got into ‘the Beast,’ the presidential limo, on Tuesday morning only to exit the vehicle 10 minutes later and enter his hotel amid high wind concerns. 

The White House said Biden wouldn’t make the trek to Thermal due to ‘weather issues’ and instead would hold an event in Los Angeles. 

Later, the White House announced that ‘today’s event will be rescheduled for next week at the White House so that key stakeholders can attend’ as fires raged throughout the area. 

On Wednesday Biden first went to Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles to meet his first great grandson – William Brannon Neal, IV. 

Granddaughter Naomi had a C-section scheduled so the Bidens knew in advance when she would be due. 

What they didn’t anticipate was that Naomi would be giving birth amid a major natural disaster, with neighborhoods burning up just miles away. 

Shortly after visiting Naomi and baby William in the hospital the president attended a fire briefing at a Santa Monica fire station alongside California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Sen. Alex Padilla. 

‘There’s only one piece of good news,’ Biden said. 

‘My son lives out here and his wife and they got notifcation yesterday their home was probably burned to the ground. Today it appears it may be still standing but not sure,’ Biden began. ‘But the good news is, I’m a great-grandfather, as of today.’

‘My eldest granddaughter had a 10 pound four ounce baby girl – baby boy,’ he said, making a quick correction on the infant’s gender.