Biden chooses worst possible time to announce 'good news' in awkward LA wildfires update
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President Joe Biden became a great-grandfather on Wednesday - but announced the "good news" immediately after giving an update on the deadly Palisades wildfires. The president was clearly delighted his granddaughter Naomi gave birth to a beautiful baby boy in Los Angeles, California. But firefighters are still working to get the widespread blazes under control, with at least five people confirmed dead after 48 hours of burning.
"The good news is, I'm a great-grandfather as of today," Mr Biden told reporters during a Santa Monica fire station briefing. "I'll remember this day for a lot of reasons.". He also previously said there was "one piece of good news - my son [Hunter] lives out here with his wife, and they got a notification yesterday that their home was probably burned to the ground." He added: "Today, it appears it's still standing. They're not sure, though.".
Mr Biden also appeared to make a cringe-worthy blunder when describing his new great-grandchild for the first time. He initially said Naomi - Hunter's daughter - gave birth to a "10-pound baby girl", before catching himself and saying "baby boy". His granddaughter, Naomi Biden Neal, gave birth to her first child, a boy, with husband Peter Neal at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. The baby’s name is William Brannon Neal IV, according to an Instagram post from first lady Jill Biden who posted an image of her and the president with their new great-grandson.
The president and his wife spent about 40 minutes visiting Naomi and the baby, the White House said. He then headed straight to the fire station to deliver the latest update on the wildfires to reporters. At least five wildfires continued to rage across LA and neighbouring counties - including at the iconic Hollywood Hills. The fire is also fast approaching the world-famous Hollywood sign.
