'I can relate': Biden faces flak for comparing Maui wildfires to his small housefire 20 years back

US President Joe Biden has done it again, he has made the headlines for anothergaffe. This time, it came in the form of an insensitive comment that left people shocked.

On Monday (August 21), Biden reached Maui to assess the damage done by a devastating wildfire that has claimed 114 lives and destroyed the homes of thousands of people. The US President compared this loss to a small kitchen fire he experienced almost two decades back.

'I can relate'

During his meeting with a group of survivors in Lahaina, a city that has been destroyed by the flames, Biden said he could relate to them, because he and First Lady Jill Bidenknew what it was like to lose a home.

"I don't want to compare difficulties, but we have a little sense, Jill and I, what it's like to lose a home," he said, as per remarks published by The White House.

He was referring to an incident from 2004. Back then he was a senator for Delaware and was in Washington for a 'meet the press' session when lightning struck a pond by his home. The bolthit a wire, only to travel into his Delaware home and into the heating and air conditioning ducts.

As per an AP report from August 2004, this led to a "small fire that was contained to the kitchen."

The then Cranston Heights Fire Company Chief George Lamborn in a statement had said that "the fire was under control in 20 minutes."

"To make a long story short, I almost lost my wife, my '67 Corvette, and my cat," said Biden, adding, "But all kidding aside, I watched the firefighters, the way they responded."

Milking the story

As per Business Insider, the US President has earlier been accused of embellishing the story.Previously, he hadsaid that he knew what it was like to have "had a house burn down with my wife in it."

Just last year, as Category 5 Hurricane Ian caused widespread destruction and misery in Florida and elsewhere,he reportedly told survivors that he "lost an awful lot of" his Delaware home in the small fire.

The blaze was described as an "insignificant blaze" by the Cranston Heights Fire Company, which responded to the house fire back in 2004. Compared to that, the Maui wildfire has destroyed many homes, at least 114 are dead, and 850 remain missing as the death toll climbs.

(With inputs from agencies)

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