White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates called out a Republican National Committee Twitter account for criticizing President Joe Biden ’s innocuous interaction with a dog Monday in Hawaii. Biden, who had arrived in Maui earlier in the day in response to the disastrous wildfires on the island, was shaking hands with first responders in the coastal town of Lahaina when he came upon a cadaver dog. “What’s the boss’s name?” asked Biden, who has two German Shepherds, one of whom lives at the White House. He then bent down to pat the dog on the head, and later commented on the temperature of the asphalt. Yet this brief moment somehow became fodder for RNC Research, which posted the 23-second clip along with the deprecating caption, “Biden gets distracted by a dog: ‘That’s some hot ground, man!’” Bates was quick to respond. “He’s petting one of the dogs that’s working hard searching for remains so survivors who’ve lost loved ones can have closure,” he wrote on Twitter less than an hour later. “This criticism is classless and stupid.” Alongside the first lady, Biden also met with state and local officials, as well as survivors. The fires have killed more than 100 people, with about 1,000 being unaccounted for.

He's petting one of the dogs that's working hard searching for remains so survivors who've lost loved ones can have closure.



This criticism is classless and stupid. https://t.co/uJf99LxT1U — Andrew Bates (@AndrewJBates46) August 21, 2023

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