AUSTIN, TEXAS: Elon Musk has recently addressed about the role of his social media platform, 'X' (Twitter) in "solving real-time information," in response to Joe Rogan's interview with former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard after the Maui wildfires.
According to Maui's police department, large bush fires occurred in August, this year claiming the lives of 115 people, with 85 percent of the impacted regions under investigation.
Gabbard, who switched to independence in October, spoke with Joe Rogan last week during an interview on the popular podcast. They discussed how the state and municipal governments handled the circumstance.
Tulsi Gabbard and Joe Rogan discuss Maui wildfires
The historic resort town of Lahaina sustained considerable damage as a result of the fires, which also caused major evacuations and power shortages. The fires started in early August and spread quickly due to a hurricane's passing violent winds. Many locals were left without power, supplies, and access to clean water in the aftermath.
"There was disaster upon disaster that came in the aftermath of the fire that went unaddressed," Gabbard told Rogan.
"I went there a few days after the fire happened. Maui was my district for eight years when I served in Congress and I had a lot of friends there. I went out to those affected communities."
"What I heard over and over again was no one from the county, state, or the federal government has shown their face in our community. It is neighbors helping neighbors, families helping families."
He continued, "People on the island of Moloka'i, they don't have much on their island. Everything comes in by barge. "
He said, "They're loading up whatever they have in their general store on these little boats and running them over to West Maui to a private boat dock because that was the only place that they wouldn't be blocked from bringing food and water, and medical supplies."
To this Rogan asked, "Why are people being blocked?" Adding, "I keep hearing that, about people being blocked. Is it because they haven't gotten an accurate death count? Is it because they have to make an assessment of how much was damaged?"
Gabbard responded, "I don't have a good answer as to why they continue to block the roads to those surrounding communities," He added, "You could say, 'Well, we were trying to secure the area,' But you're blocking friends and families from coming in and bringing necessary supplies."
What did Elon Musk say?
A clip of the interview that was viewed more than 2 million times was shared on X, formerly Twitter, where Musk, who took over the social media platform last year, didn't shied away in with his own take.
He wrote, "The Lahaina fire tragedy highlights the importance of X solving real-time information that is local."
In another part of the video, Rogan said that because of Ukraine's continuous conflict with Russia, the US government has "over-sent" $6 billion to that nation.
"I said, 'Well, how much would it cost to rebuild every house in the Maui fire?' It's $5 billion and something," Rogan told Gabbard.
Gabbard responded, "When I was out there in Maui, person after person was like, 'Tulsi, tell me what would happen if we started to call ourselves Ukraine. Do you think they would give us some money then to take care of our families, to fix our roofs that have been torn up by the hurricane winds that came through, to make sure we have clean water to drink? Do you think they might pay attention to us then?'"
Rogan and Gabbard then criticized President Joe Biden's declaration that impacted homes in Maui would be eligible for a one-time $700 payment, an announcement that was last month referred to as insulting by opponents.