Walls of fire devoured neighborhoods, forcing tens of thousands of residents to flee for their lives. But as a cataclysm fueled by windstorms charred swathes of Los Angeles, Donald Trump spotted an opportunity.
The president-elect responded to six massive blazes by reopening his long-term feud with California Gov. Gavin Newsom, landing an early jab on a Democratic governor and a state likely to emerge as a major opponent to his second term plans.
Trump and Newsom have clashed bitterly in the past, including over fire prevention, environmental policies, climate change, green vehicles and immigration.
And the incoming president wasted no time in laying the blame for simultaneous wildfires raging in the Los Angeles area that have so far killed at least five people.
Trump slammed “the gross incompetence and mismanagement of the Biden/Newscum Duo,” in a post on his Truth Social network. He claimed that California environmental policies that divert fresh water to preserve wetlands and wildlife were to blame for hydrants running dry. “I will demand that this incompetent governor allow beautiful, clean, fresh water to FLOW INTO CALIFORNIA! He is the blame for this,” Trump wrote as part of a flurry of social media posts, later writing that Newsom should resign.
In Trump’s misinformation game, it doesn’t really matter whether it’s true that Newsom is responsible for diverting water to protect the delta smelt – “a worthless fish” in Trump’s words – and that, as a result, homes of Angelenos were burned down. The president-elect just needs enough people to believe it might be the case to inflict political damage on the governor, who’s one of the nation’s most high-profile Democrats and a possible 2028 presidential hopeful.
California is also a perfect target as a liberal state that went for Vice President Kamala Harris in last year’s election. The conceit of a state and city inflicting self-defeating environmental policies is a perfect fit for Trump’s narrative that liberal governance in blue states and cities invites chaos, crime and misery.
“This is not Government. I can’t wait till January 20th!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
There will be legitimate questions about California’s and Los Angeles’ level of preparedness for the fires. Newsom and city officials will be called to account for any failures – like many politicians tested in the crucible of natural disasters. But in such dire situations, blame usually awaits the ebbing of the crisis.
