Trump blames wildfires on 'Biden/Newscum duo' in multiple attacks as Californians lose all
Less than two weeks before his inauguration, President-elect Donald Trump took time on Wednesday to criticizeâfour timesâCalifornia Governor Gavin Newsom, as three âwind-fueled wildfiresâ tore through Los Angeles and surrounding areas. The fires caused several deaths, destroyed more than one thousand buildingsâincluding homes and businessesâand left massive devastation in their wake.
The Los Angeles Times called it âone of the most destructive firestorms to hit the region in memory.â At least 70,000 people have been evacuated, according to the latest AP report, and, as ABC News notes, more than 1.5 million are without power.
Wednesday afternoon, Trump blamed the massive destruction directly on Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom: âHe is the blame for this,â Trump declared, calling him âGavin Newscum.â
âGovernor Gavin Newscum 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,â Trump wrote on his social media website.
READ MORE: âMexican Americaâ: President of Mexico Trolls Trump With Vintage Map
Trumpâs claim about refusing to sign a âwater restoration declarationâ was deemed false in a statement from the governorâs office.
âThere is no such document as the water restoration declaration â that is pure fiction,â the governorâs office stated. âThe Governor is focused on protecting people, not playing politics, and making sure firefighters have all the resources they need.â
Trumpâs attacks continued, claiming Newsom âwanted to protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt, by giving it less water (it didnât work!), but didnât care about the people of California. Now the ultimate price is being paid. I will demand that this incompetent governor allow beautiful, clean, fresh water to FLOW INTO CALIFORNIA! He is the blame for this. On top of it all, no water for fire hydrants, not firefighting planes. A true disaster!â
Later on Wednesday, Trump appeared to delight in the wildfire disaster.
âAs of this moment, Gavin Newscum and his Los Angeles crew have contained exactly ZERO percent of the fire. It is burning at levels that even surpass last night. This is not Government. I canât wait till January 20th!â
Trump continued to blame Newsom, and added President Joe Biden to his attack.
âThe fires in Los Angeles may go down, in dollar amount, as the worst in the History of our Country. In many circles, theyâre doubting whether insurance companies will even have enough money to pay for this catastrophe. Let this serve, and be emblematic, of the gross incompetence and mismanagement of the Biden/Newscum Duo. January 20th cannot come fast enough!â
On Wednesday, in an all-caps rant, Trump also wrote: âNo water in the fire hydrants, no money in FEMA. This is what Joe Biden is leaving me. Thanks Joe!â
The Hill reports that âNewsom and President Biden announced last month new rules to carry water to California farmers, as well as Los Angeles area residents, as a modification to the 2019 Trump-era regulation. Environmental advocates had pushed for the new rule in order to protect fish, including smelt.â
READ MORE: DOJ to Release Special Counselâs J6 Report on Trump, His Lawyers Expected to Object: Report
On the campaign trail in September, then-candidate Trump threatened Newsom with withholding federal funds âto put out all his fires.â
Former Obama spokesperson Tommy Vietor blasted Trump, saying: âEveryone in LA is terrified right now and trying to figure out what to do, where to go, and how to keep their kids safe from fire and smoke. Our president-electâs response is to launch another stupid political attack and pretend that the governor can stop the Santa Ana Winds.â
Meanwhile, Republicans jumped on the bandwagon and began attacking California.
Far-right U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona attacked California, suggesting they are not managing water properly, while also attacking FEMA, and spreading a false, debunked claim that the federal agency âdiverted, uh, well over a billion, almost two billion dollars, to illegal alien care, and not emergency management care.â
âSo weâve got a lot of a lot of uh things that we need to assess at the federal level, uh, and and I I donât want to jump all over this too much, but donât forget that California uh, they, they really need to do a job statewide, managing their water resources. They, the millions of acre feet of water that they just allowed to flow out to to the uh the ocean every year.â
Independent journalist Justin Glawe, who writes the Substack newsletter âWelcome to American Doom,â noted: âIf you want an idea of the capacity for empathy from the American right, Sean Hannity is kicking off his radio show right now by blaming California wildfires on Democrats and claiming Trump was right about ârakingâ forest floors in 2018.â
President Joe Biden, who is in California, met with Governor Newsom and offered support.
âThe White House said it was surging resources to the impacted areas of California, including five U.S. Forest Service air tankers, 10 federal firefighting helicopters and dozens of fire engines from the Forest Service,â The Hill adds.
âNewsom offered praise for Bidenâs response to the fires, saying during Wednesdayâs briefing that it was âimpossible for me to express the level of appreciation and cooperation weâve seen from the White House and this administration. So on behalf of all of us, Mr. President, thank you for being here.'â
Juliette Kayyem, a professor at the Harvard Kennedy school, a CNN national security analyst, and a ânational leader in homeland security and crisis management,â remarked: âIn all my years in and studying disaster management, I have never seen a president (elect) blame a jurisdiction WHILE the disaster was still out of control. It distracts, is cruel to first responders and victims, and could impede effective response.â
Watch the videos above or at this link.
RELATED: âBananasâ: Congressman Asks How Trumpâs âInsaneâ Threats Benefit Americans Economically