As deadly wildfires in the Los Angeles area continue to burn through whole neighborhoods in a swath of destruction, President-elect Donald Trump has wielded the disaster as a political cudgel, faulting Democrats for the devastation.
Trump has cast the blame squarely on California Gov. Gavin Newsom for the raging wildfires and pointed a finger at other Democratic leaders, as well.
“One of the best and most beautiful parts of the United States of America is burning down to the ground,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Wednesday night, calling for Newsom’s resignation.
The following morning, he expanded his criticism to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and President Joe Biden. “Gross incompetence by Gavin Newscum and Karen Bass….And Biden’s FEMA has no money — all wasted on the Green New Scam!” Trump wrote. “L.A. is a total wipeout!!!”
As my colleague Ryan Teague Beckwith has pointed out, Trump’s earlier criticism of Newsom’s handling of a complex water rights dispute was also plainly wrong.
In the past two days, multiple wildfires have burned through more than 45 square miles in the Los Angeles area as extreme dry conditions and powerful Santa Ana winds stoke the blazes. More than 100,000 people have evacuated their homes, and officials say at least five are dead, with many more injured.
Local Democratic leaders have indeed made decisions that are now being scrutinized, like Bass signing off on more than $17.5 million in funding cuts for the Los Angeles Fire Department in the city's latest budget. Bass has said that the cuts did not affect the department’s response to the blazes, though she has also been criticized for being abroad when the fires broke out.
But with the wildfires expected to get worse over the next day, Trump, who has a record of politicizing disaster aid, seems to have resorted to his usual tactic of using the fires as an opportunity to score political points.