President Joe Biden traveled to the site of the Surfside condominum complex in Miami-Dade county on Thursday. Last week, the condominium complex collapsed, killing at least 18 people and leaving 145 people missing.
While there, Biden visited memorials and discussed what he said to families of the victims. The horrifying collapse of the building and the tragic aftermath would give anyone pause. However, it appears that Biden decided to forego speaking of the cuff, as he wandered in his train of thought about the deadly incident.
“When I talk to some of the families, some of the people who did escape, who survived, got out, they talked about watching the building collapse and watching as they were in the garage one floor come down, literally the whole floor on top of another floor,” Biden said.
“They know that the chances are, as each day goes by, diminished slightly,” he went on. “But at a minimum, at a minimum, they want to recover the bodies. They want to recover the bodies. There’s a lot of very religious people who were in there. Members of the — the rabbis and the Jewish community were talking about the need to make sure that they recover the body and be able to bury them.”
“Give them and, you know — anyway,” he went on and then stopped to pull a notecard out of his pocket, while he continued to talk. Then, he looked down to finish his train of thought.
“I think they’re very realistic. But I don’t think that that in any way suggests that is to — that we should stop. I think that we should move on, continue to try to recover the bodies.”
It’s been a rough week for Biden. But it would certainly be more reassuring for the American public if the president could just share his unfiltered thoughts about a terrible tragedy without having to reach for his notes.
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OPINION: This article contains commentary which reflects the author's opinion.