WASHINGTON — President Biden fumed Monday when a journalist asked the retired commander-in-chief about monitoring the deadly hurricane's flooding from his Delaware vacation home rather than the White House: “That's called a phone call.” did.
“Why weren't you and Vice President Harris taking command here in Washington this weekend?” a journalist asked Mr. Biden, 81, at the White House.
“I gave the orders. I was on the phone for at least two hours yesterday and the day before. I gave the orders,” the president replied.
“It’s called a telephone,” he further said.
Biden defended his response when Harris, 59, returned from a weekend trip to Arizona and Nevada.
He spoke about the disaster at the White House amid reports that more than 100 people may have died as a result of Hurricane Helen. Most of them were in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
Biden said Monday that asking Congress for recovery funding “may be something I have to ask for” after announcing his opposition on Sunday when he returned to Washington.
“Do you have any words for the victims of the hurricane?” a journalist asked Mr. Biden as he prepared to board Air Force One at Dover Air Force Base.
“It's a tragedy… We gave them everything we had. We're on the ground beforehand. So we're working hard,” Biden responded.
“Are there other resources the federal government can provide them with?” a reporter tracked.
“No, we gave it to them. We pre-planned quite a bit,” he said.
