As I write this, two things continue to happen in California:
More wildfires are starting – with the latest one being just west of the Hollywood sign in Hollywood Hills, and city and state “leaders” on the Democrat side continue to be epic failures.
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When last we left you, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D), fresh off a taxpayer-funded pleasure trip to Ghana, stared at a reporter with a blank look on her face and then walked away without saying a word after she was repeatedly asked questions about her disastrous failures including catastrophic decisions that have literally made fighting fires in Los Angeles an uphill battle for firefighters.
READ MORE:Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass Shredded by Journo During Interview for Being AWOL As Wildfires Rage
As RedState also reported, Bass wasn’t the only elected Democrat official in the Golden State who got put on blast Wednesday.
President-Elect Donald Trump ripped into Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) big time, noting that the far-left Democrat, “refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snow melt from the North, to flow daily into many parts of California, including the areas that are currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way.”
That was done, Trump correctly pointed out, in a failed effort to save the “smelt” fish.
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“He is to blame for this,” Trump went on to declare via his Truth Social account.
As Newsom traveled to some of the impacted areas Wednesday for his standard photo op, CNN’s Anderson Cooper talked to him for a few minutes and brought up what Trump had to say.
Newsom pretended to get emotional, claiming he was holding back from what he really wanted to say, and then whined about Trump allegedly “politicizing” the tragedy amid the loss of lives and homes:
Cooper: I hate to even ask this question, but the President-Elect chose to attack you, blaming you for this.
Newsom: It’s, uh, one can’t even respond to it. I mean, it’s, uh, people… are literally fleeing. People have lost their lives. Kids lost their schools. Families completely torn asunder. Churches burned down. This guy wanted to politicize it. I-I have a lot of thoughts and I know what I want to say. I won’t.
I stood next to the President of the United States of America today, and I was proud to be with Joe Biden and he had the backs of every single person in this community. He didn’t play politics, didn’t try to divide any of us.
Watch:
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First things first, why did Cooper “hate” to ask that question of Newsom? I think the answer is pretty obvious but that’s a subject for another day.
Secondly, Newsom lost the right to criticize anyone for allegedly “politicizing” a tragedy considering all the times he’s politicized a mass shooting or natural disaster or anything else he could politicize just to keep his name in the national headlines at a time when he was trying to present himself as a viable alternative to Joe Biden.
Thirdly, Newsom inadvertently made Trump’s point in talking about what residents have had to do since the fires started. Who has been in charge in California over the last couple of decades or so statewide and in the big cities? Democrats like Newsom, all of who enact policies that cause people to flee one way or the other, whether it’s due to coddling criminals or lack of preparedness for the exact types of dangerous situations that have unfolded in recent weeks.
Lastly, contra to Newsom’s claim, now is exactly the time to talk about what went wrong and who failed the citizens of the state. The only reason he rejects the timing of the criticism is because he’s the one on the receiving end of it.
Too bad, as California Assemblyman Bill Essayli wrote in a detailed Twitter/X thread:
For everyone saying this is not a time for blame, this is exactly the moment that the people who have been responsible for the mismanagement of California’s fire policies be held accountable.
Our governor has been obsessed with holding a special session to “Trump-proof” CA, when he should be focused on FIRE-PROOFING our communities.
Here are a few hard facts about the democrat-run state’s failures to address fire prevention:
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Read his full thread here.
My colleague, Bob Hoge, also wrote an illuminating explainer on California’s water issues – which were of course brought about in part by Democrats including Newsom – here.
As I’ve said before, change is needed sooner rather than later, with fresh leadership, fresh ideas, and actual leaders who legitimately care about their communities and their state instead of the focus being on what they think it can do for them. Until that happens, bad, politically-motivated decisions are going to continue to be made and it is the citizens who will end up paying the price in more ways than one.
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