Karine Jean-Pierre Botches Hawaii Senator's Name After Biden Backlash

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday appeared to flub the name of a Hawaii senator amid a response from the Biden Administration to the Maui wildfires that has sparked criticism.

Jean-Pierre on Monday addressed the ongoing fallout of the Maui wildfires, defending President Joe Biden's response to the disaster from criticism that the White House had not done enough, stating that the president is "clearly deeply concerned about" the matter. Despite issuing an emergency declaration last week and coordinating with local and state authorities, the president has still faced criticism for not visiting the state and for spending the weekend at his residence in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

During the briefing, Jean-Pierre herself had a small slip-up while addressing the White House's response to the wildfires, mispronouncing the name of Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono before mistakenly referring to her with a male pronoun. The error came while the press secretary discussed a call Hirono made to the president on Sunday evening to thank him for the "immediate support of federal agencies." The clip circulated on social media via accounts like Citizen Free Press.

Newsweek reached out to the White House via email for comment.

The junior Senator from Hawaii, Hirono has served in the Senate since 2013, and previously served three terms in the House of Representatives, representing Hawaii's 2nd District.

Neither President Biden nor Vice President Kamala Harris has visited Hawaii since the outbreak of the fires, a point that has been cited by critics of the federal response to the disaster. Others have countered that the logistics of mounting a presidential visit to the state would actually impede the emergency efforts that are currently being carried out.

Controversy also emerged when Biden was asked by reporters about the possibility of a visit to Hawaii. Reports circulated online initially that the president had said "no comment" in response to these questions, but it was later determined that this was not true. However, reports still indicated that his response was vague.

Some Republican lawmakers and pundits also took the opportunity to use the fires in Hawaii to reiterate their opposition to the billions sent in military aid to Ukraine to combat the Russian invasion. None provided an explanation for why Ukraine spending would impede disaster relief in Maui.

As of Tuesday, nearly 100 deaths have been attributed to the Maui wildfires, with around 1,000 people believed to be missing. Around 2,200 structures have also been destroyed by the blaze and around 4,500 residents left without power. Governor Josh Green said that the fires will almost certainly go down as the biggest natural disaster in the state's history.