Air Force One sat on the tarmac as clouds of smoke blocked the whole sky around us. The fires from the previous night had burned significant portions of Los Angeles, with thousands of structures burning, and rolling evacuation orders throughout the night. The whole city is reeling from one of the biggest natural disasters we’ve experienced recently, and President Biden was here through the middle of it. At the same time across the country, these fires have been politicized like everything else that has happened recently. Biden’s visit to LA while the fire’s began have provided a snapshot of the current political state and the way everyone has rushed for a person to blame instead of a way to help.
While the visit to LAX to watch Air Force One depart was initially supposed to be about the plane, the entire past 24 hours have been shaped by the fires tearing through the city. Schools have been shut down, others have been burned in the flames, friends have lost their homes, and the air quality has deteriorated to extremely bad levels. On the drive to the airport, phones and smartwatches routinely sirened off with new evacuation orders, we wore masks due to the air quality, and a thick blanket of smoke set the scene above us. The mood at the airport was somber, while the city around us was quiet. The air smelled tart like burning plastic, and the devastating high winds whipped through our hair as we awaited the departure of the jet.
The secret service agents, who were a part of the advance team, pulled us to the side and reminded us of the solemn moment that it was, and talked about how some agents were out serving today while their houses burned.
“This is a very sensitive time… some of the folks that are working here have had some issues and they are still tasked with being here,” added a Secret Service agent on the tarmac.
Unfortunately, the focus was not quite simply on the impacts of the fire. As we stood at the airport, finger pointing and the politicization of a natural disaster continued to unfold online. To name just a few examples, Trump took to social media to blame Governor Gavin “Newsom” for not approving a bill because it endangered protected fish, people all over the internet blamed LA mayor Karen Bass for not being in town during the fires, even though she left before the fires started, and for cutting fire department funding. To take it further, President Biden’s son Hunter’s house was in a high danger zone for the wildfires, with media outlets quickly throwing shade at the president’s son by calling him “disgraced,” and describing the home as a mansion to paint the Biden’s as out of touch.
As we stood on the tarmac, we watched the massive Osprey military aircrafts land right in front of us followed by Marine One. Biden, accompanied by First Lady Jill Biden, walked out from the chopper onto the plane. At the stop of the stairs, he turned, pointed to us, waved and saluted. Biden stepped onto the plane in what may be the final time that he visits Los Angeles as President, and departed leaving the burning city in an ironic metaphor for his Presidency. After putting together what may have been one of the best economic comebacks of all time, Biden will leave the White House after voters decided the prices were just still too high. Each action he took was criticized and targeted by right-wing media outlets, and similar to the way he stepped onto Air Force One leaving California in flames, he will step out of the White House as the nation barrels into one of our most tumultuous periods.
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Kids Scoop Reporter Ethan Dumper interviewing Congresswoman Maxine Waters.