JOE Biden has been accused of making the devastating California wildfires “about himself” after announcing the birth of his first great-grandchild at a press conference covering the blazes.
President Biden was appearing alongside California Governor Gavin Newsom as emergency services gave an update on the response to the catastrophic fires.
Five people have died so far and 30,000 people have been evacuated in the wildfires which started in the west Los Angeles neighborhood of Pacific Palisades on Tuesday.
During the press conference, Biden suddenly announced that he had become a great-grandfather after his granddaughter Naomi Biden gave birth to her first child.
“But the good news is, I’m a great grandfather, as of today,” he said, during the briefing at the Malibu fire station.
First Lady Jill Biden later shared a picture of herself and the president holding their first great-grandchild.
It comes as…
“We are proud to introduce you to our great-grandson,” she wrote on the official FLOTUS Instagram account.”William Brannon Neal IV.”
But Biden’s decision to announce the birth at an emergency press conference instantly faced a backlash from many for being “tone-deaf”.
“Biden makes all tragedies about himself,” one person wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Read the room, Joe,” a second wrote.
While a third referenced a countdown to the incoming Trump administration, writing simply, “12 more days.”
Biden spoke about his grandaughter’s pregnancy recently, telling USA Today, “I’m about to be a great-grandfather, Jesus God. But Naomi … I’m going out to California. She’s due to have a cesarean on the 8th of January.”
“God willing,” he added.
The birth of William Neal comes just over two years after the Bidens hosted Naomi’s wedding to her husband, Peter Neal, at the White House.
The Malibu home of Hunter Biden, Naomi’s father, is among the properties threatened with destruction by the Palisades Fire.
The president’s son moved into the $30,000-a-month rental property in 2022, ABC News reported at the time.
Phillip Cohen, 68, a former educator who is battling cancer, escaped his $1 million condo in the Pacific Palisades on Tuesday after the blaze crept up on his property.
After arriving at a shelter, he opened up about the horror he witnessed in an exclusive conversation with The U.S. Sun
The survivor remembers how he saw women and children sobbing as they ran for their lives.
“I saw embers from the fire at around 10:15 am and then I went out of my building with some other residents and we watched the fire for a couple of hours on Sunset Boulevard,” he said.
“I live on Sunset Boulevard and PCH [Pacific Coast Highway]. We watched the fire spread. We watched the people that were being evacuated.”
“And they had to get out by foot. They had to leave their cars. Women sobbing, carrying babies and holding on to toddlers, running down Sunset Boulevard.
“It was a mess. And as time went by, it became more chaotic.”
Cohen waited in vain to see if he could stay safe in his house until the evacuation order passed, but he quickly realized he had no choice but to say goodbye to his home.
“This is the worst I’ve seen [in LA]. The spread is so crazy,” the heartbroken homeowner said.
“It’s the Palisades, Brentwood, the Basin in the Valley, Sylmar in the Valley, Pasadena, Altadena, Santa Clarita and Lancaster, and that’s about 80 miles away. And then it’s still somewhat kicking up.
“I don’t know what’s left, I may have lost all of my son’s baby photos from my hard drive, everything from my computer, furniture. I can’t go back for four or five days.
“I must say, major disasters can be a horrible equalizer in the sense that people with huge estates in the Palisades and Brentwood have nothing left. They’ve lost everything.”
California has been home to dozens of devastating wildfires, including four currently burning in January 2025 that have left over 1,000 structures ruined. Here are the five most destructive wildfires in state history:
Source: KABC
