(Photo : Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
President Biden Meets Virtually With Governors Affected By Hurricane
WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 30: U.S. President Joe Biden meets virtually with FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell and governors and mayors from states and cities impacted by Hurricane Ida in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on August 30, 2021 in Washington, DC. The Category 4 hurricane made landfall in Louisiana on Sunday causing flooding and a widespread power outage. Ida continues to move northeast as a tropical storm, dumping rain across Mississippi and other southern states. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
New Jersey residents who are upset about the Afghanistan situation labeled President Joe Biden a "tyrant" and urged him to resign as he toured places devastated by Hurricane Ida on Tuesday.
While the Commander-in-Chief shook hands with residents and first responders in Manville's residential streets, several bystanders were irritated by the president's hurried order to withdraw US soldiers from Afghanistan by August 31.
Biden visits storm-damaged states
Ida wreaked havoc on the Garden State and the Mid-Atlantic area, causing flash floods, tornadoes, and widespread property destruction. Per The Sun, a handmade sign depicting Biden's hands pouring in blood carried by an onlooker reads, "HURRICANE BIDEN: MORE DESTRUCTIVE THAN IDA!"
Following the deaths of 13 US service personnel in an ISIS suicide strike on August 26, Biden's administration has been chastised for overseeing the withdrawal from Afghanistan. The president has vehemently defended his choice to leave Afghanistan and hand up authority to the Taliban.
One individual told Biden that the bloodshed at Hamid Karzai International Airport, which killed almost 100 Afghan civilians, had offended him personally. While Biden was speaking with servicemen, the guy screamed verbal rebukes.
Later in the same Queens speech, Biden admitted to being heckled but claimed that the hecklers didn't reside in the neighborhood and were unhappy over his climate change stance. Climate change was mentioned several times in the president's address, with the scientific community issuing a "code red" and concluding that climate change is an "existential threat" to the United States, Fox News reported.
New York Sen. Chuck Schumer pointed out a child after the speech with an American flag and Biden joked with the child by saying "don't jump!" after telling him that America's "diversity" is what gets the country through tragic natural disasters.
Trump supporters lined in New Jersey to denounce Biden
The president was in New Jersey and intended to travel to New York City to see the damage and ask for federal funding to strengthen infrastructure to better protect people and property in the region and beyond from future storms. Wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, and other severe events, must be addressed in ways that mitigate the terrible impacts of climate change, he added.
Biden's convoy passed past a neighborhood where mounds of broken furniture, beds, and other household belongings were heaped outside homes on the route to the briefing. Many fans of Republican former President Donald Trump lined the road, holding banners denouncing Biden.
When Ida made landfall in Louisiana, it was the fifth-most violent hurricane ever to impact the United States, killing at least 50 people throughout the country. New Jersey accounted for more than half of the deaths, with 27. Thirteen individuals were killed in New York City, with 11 of them in Queens.
Before returning to Washington, D.C. this evening, Biden will visit Queens to observe firsthand the tremendous devastation in low-lying districts like Flushing and East Elmhurst. The White House tries to present Biden as the man in charge of the government's response to these natural catastrophes, stating that he receives daily briefings from his staff and communicates with governors and other elected leaders in the impacted areas.
Following Hurricane Maria's destruction in Puerto Rico in 2017, Donald Trump casually tossed paper towels to residents, earning him contempt from opponents but minimal harm to his electoral position. After Superstorm Sandy in 2012, Barack Obama hugged New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie, providing a temporary break from political tensions that had endangered the economy. After Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans in 2005, George W. Bush lost public support owing to a weak response, as per New York Daily News.
Related Article: Joe Biden Forcefully Defends US Withdrawal in Afghanistan, Claims Victory Despite Leaving 200 Americans Including 3-Year-Old Boy