Former Obama advisor defends Biden's controversial Maui statements: 'How he connects to people'

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Jim Messina says Biden's empathy is what connects him to voters amid backlash of his Maui fire comments.

Former Obama Deputy White House Chief of Staff Jim Messina defends President Biden's controversial comments about the Maui fire.

Former Barack Obama campaign manager Jim Messina suggested on "America’s Newsroom" that President Biden’s comparing a kitchen fire to the historic Maui wildfires to relate to victims depicts "empathy" and connects with voters.

"Now, Joe Biden went to Hawaii, and I don't believe based on the reporting, he took a single question, but he did try and relate to those there from a kitchen fire at his house 15 years ago. Watch how this one," Fox News host Bill Hemmer said before showing a clip of Biden’s comments.

"I don’t want to compare difficulties, but we have a little sense, Jill and I, of what it was like to lose a home," Biden said. "Years ago, now, 15 years, I was in Washington doing ‘Meet the press’… Lightning struck at home on a little lake outside the home, not a lake a big pond. It hit the wire and came up underneath our home, into the…air condition ducts."

Former Obama campaign manager Jim Messina discussed Biden's Maui visit on "America Reports." (Fox News)

"To make a long story short, I almost lost my wife, my 67 Corvette, and my cat," the president added.

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"You know, Jim, I don’t know how many times a politician comes to you and looks for advice how they should relate to people, but when politicians try and assimilate or relate like that, and it fails because it is not real, it just flops," Hemmer said.

"I’m not sure we’re going to agree on this one, Bill," Messina responded. "I think his empathy, his stories, his way he connects with voters are why he won the 2020 presidential election. It’s why he’s going to win again next time. He has empathy and connection with voters that press and D.C. pundits like me don’t fully give him enough credit for. And I think this kind of thing is the way your neighbor would talk to you, and it’s why people like him."

Biden has been criticized for his response to the Maui wildfires (AP Newsroom/Getty Images)

Biden has repeatedly referenced the story of a fire supposedly destroying a significant portion of his New Hampshire home. However, a 2004 report from the Associated Press, archived by LexisNexis, said lightning struck the Bidens’ home and started a "small fire that was contained to the kitchen." The report said firefighters got the blaze under control in 20 minutes and that they were able to keep the flames from spreading beyond the kitchen.

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Hemmer referenced this distinction.

"Jim, this was — with all due respect, it was a kitchen fire that was put out within 20 minutes, and he’s standing there in absolute devastation where the people around him, if they are alive, they have lost everything," Hemmer said.

President Biden smirks while appearing in Maui. (Fox News)

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"Look, I think it’s how he connects with people," Messina insisted. "I think it’s his way of connecting and telling a personal story. I have been with him on the ground where he does this and people connect with it. I just, you know, I don’t think we agree here."

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Fox News' Greg Wehner contributed to this report.