SANTA MONICA, California — President Joe Biden on Wednesday met his first great-grandchild — after which pledged full support to California firefighters battling a sequence of disastrous wildfires simply miles to the west.
The back-to-back journeys to Cedars-Sinai Medical Heart and a Santa Monica hearth corridor had been unscheduled detours on considered one of closing journeys of Biden’s presidency. He traveled to California to call two new nationwide monuments, however the occasion was canceled due to the surging Santa Ana winds.
As an alternative, Biden met with police and hearth officers right here main efforts to comprise a life-threatening trio of wildfires that broke out in a single day spurred by winds that at instances reached greater than 100 miles per hour, saying he deliberate to concern a significant catastrophe declaration aimed toward releasing up extra assets.
“It’s astounding what’s taking place,” Biden mentioned at an look on the hearth corridor, flanked by California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.).
“We’re doing something and all the pieces,” he added, lamenting that the eventual restoration is “going to take time.”
Biden mentioned that the houses underneath menace included his son Hunter’s, although he believed it had not been burned. Regardless of the fires threatening his son’s residence, Biden had good private information to mark the day.
“The excellent news is, I’m a great-grandfather as of at this time,” he mentioned, remarking on how his granddaughter Naomi gave beginning at Cedars-Sinai Medical Heart.
Biden, accompanied by first woman Jill Biden and different members of the family together with Hunter, spent roughly 40 minutes along with her.
The pair of stops Wednesday closed out the two-day journey initially aimed toward creating two new nationwide monuments initially scheduled for Tuesday as a part of a closing dash to spherical out his file on local weather.
Biden will as a substitute give his speech on the monuments from the White Home at a later date.
Much less of a shock was the arrival of Biden’s great-grandchild, whose imminent arrival was disclosed in a USA In the present day interview revealed Wednesday morning.
The White Home had initially constructed a further half-day into the president’s schedule after his deliberate Tuesday dedication of the monuments, elevating questions on whether or not Biden deliberate to make use of the journey as a well-timed alternative to additionally welcome his latest member of the family in individual.
A spokesperson for the White Home didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon the schedule, and whether or not Biden had purposely in-built additional time so he might be on the hospital for the infant’s beginning.
