Bad weather has claimed at least 37 lives here. The presidential convoy passed through streets ravaged by the violence of the elements, with smashed trees, school buses strewn on the ground like toys and pieces of houses scattered to the four winds.
But after visiting victims, the 79-year-old Democrat said the natural disaster was an opportunity to strengthen social ties.
“Everyone has an obligation to help,” he said.
“I promise you, we will stay here, (we) the federal government, alongside the state (of Kentucky) and the county and the city, we will stay until everyone is back to their place. I’m serious,” added the president, who seeks to promote unity at a time when the divide between Democrats and Republicans is such that they are barely able to speak to each other.
But Joe Biden believes in his lucky star.
Until a few weeks ago, he was considered a lame duck, unable to keep his promises. Today he celebrates a series of successes, such as the likely adoption of his grand climate and health plan and the US operation that killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
After spending almost two weeks in isolation because of the Covid and as the November midterm elections are fast approaching, the president intends to work twice as hard.
– Soon “change” –
So at Lost Creek, the man who has experienced many personal tragedies himself comforted grieving Americans, hugging adults, clapping a toddler’s hand and telling a little boy whose home was destroyed that one day , he himself would be President of the United States.
Then in searing heat, sweat dampening his blue shirt, Joe Biden delivered a political speech aimed at a deeply divided America.
The president said a survivor humbly told him that the people of Kentucky didn’t want to “ask too much.”
But the people of Kentucky “are Americans”, launched Mr. Biden. “This happened in America, it’s an American problem.”
“So I don’t want anyone from Kentucky to tell me you don’t have to do this for me,” the president insisted.
“Yes, yes, we have to. You are an American citizen. We never give up, we never quit, we never bow down, we never bend. We just move forward,” he said. he hammered.
It was with this message of unity that Mr. Biden was elected to replace Republican Donald Trump, and it is with this same message that he hopes to rally the votes for the midterm elections and perhaps keep Congress in the hands of his camp.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, a Democrat in a largely Republican state who voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump in 2020, adopted a similar speech.
The tragedy that struck the region, he said, had residents “leaning on each other at a difficult time,” with no distinction between “Democrats and Republicans.”
And Republican lawmaker Hal Rogers praised Mr Biden, saying he was doing “what he could to ease the pain”.
But is the rest of America listening to the president, whose approval ratings are at an all-time low?
“The fact is, we’ve been divided for a long time,” Biden said when asked by AFP why his message didn’t seem to pierce the thick layer of skepticism among his opponents.
But “I think you’re going to see a lot of change,” assured this eternal optimist.
