President-elect Donald Trump delivered a blistering criticism of Gavin Newsom in light of the recent devastation caused by the Palisades wildfires, pointing a direct finger at the California governor.
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Trump, who described the scene across Los Angeles-area communities as “apocalyptic,” listed several reasons he feels Newsom should be held accountable.
He even used a nickname for the potential future Democratic presidential candidate.
“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,” Trump said.
Trump, who is set to be inaugurated on January 20th, raged that Newsom cared more about protecting “an essentially worthless fish called a smelt” than the people of California.
“Now the ultimate price is being paid,” he added. “I will demand that this incompetent governor allow beautiful, clean, fresh water to FLOW INTO CALIFORNIA!”
“He is (to) blame for this.”
Trump absolutely hammers Gavin Newsom over what is happening with the Palisades wildfires.
“He is (to) blame for this.” pic.twitter.com/npRVUU5ZW7
— Rusty (@Rusty_Weiss) January 8, 2025
Trump also referenced reports that the Los Angeles area had run out of water for fire hydrants and had a severe lack of firefighting planes.
Gratuitous shot at the smelt aside, Trump is dead on when it comes to his criticisms of how California and Newsom have been addressing the threat of wildfires.
As RedState’s Bonchie reported earlier this afternoon, Democrat politicians and the media pilloried President-elect Trump during his first term for demanding the Golden State clear out forest floors in an attempt to limit wildfires.
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The Press and Democrats Mocked Trump Over Wildfires, Now the Receipts Loom Large
“I see again the forest fires are starting,” Trump said at a Pennsylvania campaign rally in the summer of 2020. “They’re starting again in California. I said, you gotta clean your floors, you gotta clean your forests — there are many, many years of leaves and broken trees and they’re like, like, so flammable, you touch them and it goes up.”
In 2019, he tweeted that Newsom should stop listening to environmentalist “bosses” and “clean” the forest floors while also demanding California open up what he called “ridiculously closed water lanes.”
“I’ve been telling them this now for three years, but they don’t want to listen,” Trump said at the 2020 rally. “‘The environment, the environment,’ but they have massive fires again.”
The media simply mocked Trump. They didn’t ask questions about the claims. They didn’t press Newsom over his inaction. They just had to mock Trump.
California has been throttling or shutting off water to Southern California for decades in a vain attempt to save a three-inch long minnow-like fish.
Trump tried to change that and was vehemently opposed. It’s time for California voters to hold their leaders accountable. pic.twitter.com/jlU10MqBlw
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) January 8, 2025
Thus far, Governor Newsom’s response to the Palisades wildfires has been to show up to the area for a photo-op with his hands in his back pockets, prompting widespread scorn from angry people.
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He did declare a state of emergency.
RedState has relentlessly covered the devastating scene out in California, noting that nearly 3,000 acres have already burned, with over 13,000 buildings and 26,000 people at risk in the evacuation zone.
As of this report, two people have been killed, and the fires have injured “several” firefighters and civilians.
The Daily Mail reports that California-based media outlets have criticized Newsom for years for “failing to deliver on his promises upon taking office in 2019 of revamping the state’s wildfire strategy.”
Remarkably, during the first year of President Biden’s term, when the sole intent of his being wasn’t fighting Trump, Newsom announced a plan to spend billions across several years … you guessed it – clearing out forest floors in an attempt to limit wildfires.
Where did that money go?
