Buckeye Reporter

On Aug. 15, Ohio's Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who is responsible for overseeing elections and business registrations in the state, criticized President Joe Biden for vacationing amidst crises like a chemical cloud in East Palestine, the fall of Kabul and the Maui wildfires, emphasizing the necessity of a responsive leader during disasters. 

"East Palestine was covered by a chemical cloud and the president vacationed," LaRose tweeted. "Kabul fell and the president vacationed. Maui burned and the president vacationed. America deserves a president who is present when disaster strikes."

The White House defended Biden's vacation amid the Hawaii wildfire disaster, the Washington Examiner reported. Biden spent last weekend in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, just days after returning from a weeklong vacation there, and he will head to Lake Tahoe for a six-day stay. Meanwhile, the death toll from wildfires in Hawaii has climbed to 93.

The wildfires that erupted on the Hawaiian island of Maui on Aug. 8 have become the deadliest natural disaster in state history, officials said, ABC News reported. The blazes spread rapidly due to very dry conditions stemming from a drought combined with powerful winds. Much of the historic town of Lahaina has been "destroyed," officials said, and the inferno has burned thousands of residential and commercial buildings to the ground. Dozens of people have been confirmed dead, and many remain missing.

Biden's visit to Hawaii, where wildfires have caused significant destruction and left around 1,000 people missing, has been criticized for its perceived lack of empathy. Biden's stay in billionaire Tom Steyer's Tahoe mansion and his previous hesitancy to comment on the fire have been seen as disrespectful, the National Review reported.

In previous summers, the Bidens have also vacationed on Kiawah Island, South Carolina, and the first family spends their Thanksgiving on the resort island of Nantucket, Massachusetts. They traveled to the U.S. Virgin Islands at the end of last year, staying there through the new year, according to CBS News.

As secretary of state, LaRose oversees a statewide constitutional office responsible for administering elections and incorporating new businesses. LaRose serves as the state’s chief elections officer, working with 88 county boards of elections to ensure the security, accuracy and accessibility of Ohio’s voting process. In 2020, he helped guide the state through the unprecedented challenges of a presidential election conducted at the height of a global pandemic, successfully managing the highest voter turnout election in state history, according to his biography.