Trump Says Gavin Newsom Responsible for Wildfire Damage

While visiting California, Donald Trump warned that more could be done to prevent the damage done by wildfires in California.  

With fires not raging out of control, Trump had no problem calling out Newsom and Democrats for their failed policies that led to this disaster.  

Trump Blames Newsom 

Trump did not hold back in criticizing Governor Newsom, who Trump has talked complimentary about in the past.  

He stated, "Governor 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. 

"He wanted to protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt, by giving it less water (it didn’t work!), but didn’t 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!" 

Is Trump Right? 

In a nutshell, yes, he is.  

Trump likes to exaggerate a lot of things, and I do my best to call him out for you guys so you are better informed about what he can and cannot do, but many of the policies put into place by Newsom have contributed to this mess.  

Listen, wildfires happen every year in this part of the country, but measures can be taken to prevent them from getting out of control. 

Newsom and the Biden administration have made several calls as governor, such as runoff going to the Pacific and forest floor maintenance, that helped contribute to these fires raging out of control.  

More to Blame 

In October, reports blew up all over the place regarding prescribed controlled burns in California.  

The Forest Service canceled the burns, likely worried about mistakes being made during the burns, but was the risk of canceling the burns worth it? I think we can say now that it was not. If you want to see a really good report on this issue, read the report on KQED.  

Then, of course, there were the budget cuts by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who cut nearly $18 million from the LA Fire Department budget despite warning that large-scale response would be impacted by these cuts, but the chief is more worried about diversity than doing her actual job, and now Los Angeles is paying the price.  

I will not say these fires could have been completely prevented, but I would wager the damage would not have been so bad. On my social media accounts, I have expressed little empathy because California voted for Gavin Newson, they put him back in office when there was a chance to recall him, they overwhelmingly supported Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and Bass was elected as mayor. They put these people in charge, and now they are suffering the consequences of their policies. Just like Democrats love to say, elections have consequences.