“It didn’t have to be this way,” says Sara Gonzales of the ongoing L.A. wildfires that have already left 40,000 acres scorched, 1,300 monuments destroyed, and at least 24 people dead.
“If the city had been ready for something like this, it would not have been able to spin out of control the way that it did,” she sighs.
The blame falls heavily on California authorities, including Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who slashed the city’s fire department funding, and Gov. Gavin Newsom, who refused to sign a water bill that would have dramatically increased the city’s water supply.
But it seems humility is not in either one of their wheelhouses.
Even though Newsom is in hot water with his own California residents and Americans at large, he’s been clear that he’s not accepting any responsibility for L.A.’s lack of preparedness.
Sara Gonzales plays a video clip of a recent phone call between Newsom and President Biden, in which the California governor made it clear what the real problem is — misinformation.
“We’ve got to deal with this misinformation. There were hurricane-force winds of mis- and disinformation — lies. People want to divide this country, and we’re gonna have to address that as well. And it breaks my heart, as people are still suffering and struggling, that we’re up against those hurricane forces as well,” Newsom told Biden.
Pointing to the “suffering and struggling” Californians, Sara asks: “The ones you neglected and abandoned, Gavin, for a smelt instead?”
For those who don’t know, Gavin Newsom rejected a water bill that would have supplied the state with more water because he prioritized protecting a fish called a smelt.
Donald Trump lambasted him for it on Truth Social:
But now Newsom and the mainstream media are running cover, claiming that Trump is spreading misinformation.
Newsom even launched a “California fire facts” web page to combat this alleged “misinformation.”
For example, the site calls the accusation that California slashed its fire department budgets a lie.
The following post from Newsom is featured as “proof”:
Sara, however, fact-checks the fact-checker with actual receipts.
She points to L.A. Fire Chief Kristin Crowley’s criticism of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass for cutting the fire department by “over $17 million.”
Last month, Crowley sent a letter to Bass, warning that the budget cuts “severely limited the department’s capacity to prepare for, train for, and respond to large-scale emergencies, including wildfires,” says Sara, reading from Crowley’s correspondence.
While Sara doesn’t necessarily absolve Crowley of all blame — as her main focus since becoming chief has been DEI initiatives — she understands that “you can’t cut a budget like that” and expect the system to run smoothly.
Newsom’s fact-checking page also calls the accusation that California reservoirs are empty a lie.
In an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Newsom said, “The reservoirs are completely full” before decrying “Donald Trump’s insults” as the real problem.
However, when the interviewer pointed out that the reservoir that serves the Palisades, where the most devastating wildfire sparked, was not full, Newsom said, “And that’s exactly what triggered my desire to get the investigation to understand what was happening,” completely contradicting his previous claim.
“You’re talking out of both sides of your mouth like the snake that you are,” criticizes Sara.
To hear more of Newsom’s fact-checks debunked with actual proof, watch the episode above.
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