L.A. Wildfires Turn Political: Karen Bass, Gavin Newsom Draw Heat Over Response
As the worst fire in the history of Los Angeles continues to rage, two political leaders are drawing heat for what some view as a mismanagement of resources leading up to the disaster — with even celebrities weighing in on social media.
With a blaze covering 17,000 acres that’s resulted in 130,000 residents having to evacuate their homes, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass came under quick criticism for jetting off to Ghana, Africa, on the eve of the fire breaking out on Jan. 6. Bass was part of a delegation sent by President Biden for the inauguration of the country’s new president. While her trip preceded the fire, extremely high and dangerous winds — which meteorologists warned made a fire quite likely — had been forecast for days. Once the disaster began to unfold, Bass was criticized for not returning until Wednesday afternoon. The criticism is somewhat reminiscent of Texans slamming Sen. Ted Cruz for fleeing to Cancún during a statewide freeze and power loss disaster in 2021.
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Bass was then further criticized on Wednesday for ignoring a Sky News reporter’s questions about the disaster for two minutes (“Have you absolutely nothing to say to the citizens today?”). During a subsequent news conference, the mayor insisted, according to the L.A. Times, “I took the fastest route back, which included being on a military plane” and — in a comment that some viewed as self-serving — “We have to resist any effort to pull us apart.”
Bass, who was elected in 2022, is also being slammed for reportedly cutting the city’s fire department budget by $17.6 million. L.A. Fire Chief Kristin Crowley warned in December about the possible consequences of the move (“The reduction … has severely limited the department’s capacity to prepare for, train for and respond to large-scale emergencies, including wildfires”). But L.A. Councilmember Bob Blumenfield’s office has claimed to Politico that the fire budget actually has increased by $50 million year-over-year.
“Resign,” wrote podcaster and Nobody Wants This executive producer Sara Foster on her Instagram stories. “Your gross negligence is abhorrent … We pay the highest taxes in California. Our fire hydrants were empty. Our vegetation was overgrown, brush not cleared. Our reservoirs were emptied by our governor because tribal leaders wanted to save fish. Our fire department’s budget was cut by our mayor. But thank god drug addicts are getting their drug kits.”
L.A. Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong likewise blamed Bass, writing on X, “Fires in LA are sadly no surprise, yet the Mayor cut LA Fire Department’s budget by $23M. And reports of empty fire hydrants raise serious questions. Competence matters.”
While Elon Musk slammed Bass as “utterly incompetent.”
And President-elect Donald Trump took on Bass on Thursday morning, writing on Truth Social: “Fire is spreading rapidly for 3 days — ZERO CONTAINMENT. Nobody has ever seen such failed numbers before! Gross incompetence by Gavin Newscum and Karen Bass….And Biden’s FEMA has no money — all wasted on the Green New Scam! L.A. is a total wipeout!!!”
Gov. Gavin Newsom has also come under fire, particularly after Trump first took aim on Wednesday. “It’s very sad because I’ve been trying to get Gavin Newsom to allow water to come — you’d have tremendous water up there, they send it out from the Pacific — because they’re trying to protect a tiny little fish,” Trump said. “For the sake of a smelt, they have no water… It’s a mistake of the governor, and you could say, the administration … Let this serve, and be emblematic, of the gross incompetence and mismanagement of the Biden/Newscum Duo.”
More on the accuracy of Trump’s comment in a moment, but other reactions to incompetence around the wildfires — there are now five fires burning across L.A. County — included The Millionaire Matchmaker star Patti Stanger writing on Instagram, “Never thought I’d agree with Trump, but Gavin Newsom, you are to blame.”
Meanwhile, Special Forces and The Hills star Brody Jenner wrote on Instagram, “Newscum and Bass need to go,” using Trump’s nickname for Newsom.
Newsom’s office fired back at Trump on social media, however, saying his criticism was misguided.
“Broadly speaking, there is no water shortage in Southern California right now, despite Trump’s claims that he would open some imaginary spigot,” read a detailed statement with supportive quotes from several other officials. “Trump is conflating two entirely unrelated things: the conveyance of water to Southern California and supply from local storage.”
As for hydrants not having enough water, Newsom explained, “LADWP said that because of the high water demand, pump stations at lower elevations did not have enough pressure refill tanks at higher elevations, and the ongoing fire hampered the ability of crews to access the pumps. To supplement, they used water tenders to supply water — a common tactic in wildland firefighting.”
(Regarding the whole smelt fish criticism, here’s a detailed explainer.)
Reportedly, Sarah Michelle Gellar took aim at city officials for a lack of organization on the ground, though her comment doesn’t currently appear on her Instagram: “City of LA you want everyone to evacuate yet you have complete gridlock and not one traffic cop on the roads helping,” she wrote with Bass tagged, according to Fox News.
One celebrity had a different focus on social: Hacks star Jean Smart urged networks to forgo airing awards shows and instead put resources toward helping fire victims. “With ALL due respect, during Hollywood’s season of celebration, I hope any of the networks televising the upcoming awards will seriously consider NOT televising them and donating the revenue they would have garnered to victims of the fires and the firefighters.”
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