Tipsheet

There's a New Liberal Politician Trump Is Blaming for California Fires

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  January 09, 2025 3:15 PM

President-elect Donald Trump, as we've been covering, has been putting out a series of Truth Social posts to share some harsh truths when it comes to these devastating wildfires in California. Trump has blamed Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, as well as highlighted problems with a lack of water for the fire hydrants. In a post from Thursday, he also called out Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, whose handling has been particularly abominable.

"Fire is spreading rapidly for 3 days — ZERO CONTAINMENT," Trump lamented early on Thursday morning. "Nobody has ever seen such failed numbers before! Gross incompetence by Gavin Newscum and Karen Bass," he continued, going with his oft-used insult for the governor and naming more than just Newsom this time. 

Just as he did in a post from Wednesday, Trump also lashed out against "Biden's FEMA" and a lack of funds. As Madeline covered following Hurricanes Helene and Milton, FEMA was lacking funds for disaster relief due to spending it on illegal immigrants. In this case, Trump blamed it on how the FEMA funding was "all wasted on the Green New Scam!"

As Matt's been covering, Bass wasn't even in Los Angeles. She was in Ghana on a taxpayer-funded trip to attend the inauguration of the African nation's new president. When she finally returned, she wasn't any more useful with her presence, from her posts shared over X thanking Newsom, President Joe Biden, and Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla, to her inability to explain to reporters whether she had an apology for not being there or if she felt remorse for cutting the budget of firefighters. 

The press conference that Bass held on Thursday was even worse, as she snapped at reporters who dared to call her out for her absence and horrific handling of the situation before and as the fires raged.

Recommended

Latest LA Fires Update Will Likely Infuriate Voters Matt Vespa
There Was a Ton of Drama at Jimmy Carter's Funeral Matt Vespa

Later still on Thursday, Trump was out with yet another post, this one focussing more on Newsom.

Still using that same insult for the governor, he gave specific instructions for what he should do, rather than offer useless platitudes like Newsom's fellow Democrats have.

"Governor Gavin Newscum should immediately go to Northern California and open up the water main, and let the water flow into his dry, starving, burning State, instead of having it go out into the Pacific Ocean," Trump made clear. "It ought to be done right now, NO MORE EXCUSES FROM THIS INCOMPETENT GOVERNOR. IT’S ALREADY FAR TOO LATE!"

Such advice rings similar to the advice that Trump gave to Newsom in November 2019, during his first term as president. The governor, in a particularly petty manner, even for him, made it all about climate change and claimed the then-sitting president was "excused from this conversation."

Both Newsom and Bass, far-left politicians who can't seem to be bothered to know what's most important for the actual people of their states, are to blame here. Matt also covered in depth early on Thursday morning just how bad Newsom has been, which, again, has also been an issue for years. Late on Wednesday night, also over Truth Social, Trump called on Newsom to resign.

"It's ashes, and Gavin Newscum should resign," Trump posted about California, referring to it as "[o]ne of the best and most beautiful parts of the United States of America," also using that same insult for the governor. "This is all his fault!!!"