Some people affected by the condominium tower collapse in Surfside, Florida, are questioning what role climate change played in the disaster, according to President Joe Biden.
In the hours he spent with survivors, families of missing and dead residents, and rescuers on Thursday, Biden admitted it was “interesting” to him how many raised “the impact of global warming.”
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“I didn’t raise it,” he said at the St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort, blocks from the site. “They talked about sea levels rising and about how, the combination of that and a concern about incoming storms, incoming tropical storms.”
With a U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology investigation underway, Biden added there was still no “definitive judgment” about what caused the Champlain Towers South condo complex to partially collapse last week. But a 2018 inspection of the 12-story, 136-unit tower built in 1981 documented “major structural damage” to a concrete slab below the pool deck before its 40-year recertification.
Taking questions, Biden also told reporters he did not have “any idea” about the indictment of the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg for tax fraud. Instead, he insisted he would not comment on “an ongoing case,” even if he had been briefed on the matter.
Yet, Biden promised to speak “extensively” about voter access issues after the Supreme Court upheld Arizona’s new election laws. In a 6-3 decision Thursday, the court ruled in favor of the state’s ballot harvesting ban and its requirement that Election Day ballots be cast in the voter’s home precinct.
“It is critical that we make the distinction between voter suppression and suspension,” he said, referring to election subversion. “The ability of a state legislative body to come along and the legislature vote to change who is declared the winner I find to be somewhat astounding. But the Supreme Court rule did not rule that way today, to the best of my knowledge.”
At least 18 people are dead, and another 145 residents remain unaccounted for in Surfside.
Biden borrowed from his own brushes with personal tragedy to console the community, recounting the loss of his first wife Neilia and daughter Naomi in a 1972 car crash and the death of his son Beau in 2015 to cancer. He also announced plans for the federal government to shoulder the cost of the emergency response for its first 30 days.
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While Biden’s trip took place during a pause in the search and rescue effort over reports the condo site is becoming increasingly unstable, some families voiced frustrations with the presidential visit, fearing it drew resources away from the recovery operation.
