Gavin Newsom Takes Melodramatic Shot at Trump While Standing in Front of Burning Houses
As wildfires continue to rage in California, many are understandably upset with Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. One of those people is President-elect Donald Trump.
During an Wednesday interview on CNN‘s “Anderson Cooper 360°” with host Anderson Cooper, Newsom was asked about the incoming president’s comments, which blamed Newsom for the disaster currently unfolding.
Newsom — standing amidst the devastation with a burning home in full view — seemed to struggle to find his words as he desperately wanted to frame himself as the victim.
“One can’t even respond to it,” Newsom claimed through stutters.
“People are literally fleeing. People have lost their lives. Kids lost their schools. Families completely torn asunder. Churches burned down,” he told Cooper, trying his hardest to seem upset.
“[Trump] wanted to politicize it. I have a lot of thoughts, and I know what I want to say. I won’t,” Newsom remarked, taking plenty of dramatic pauses and stuttering more as if that would help his case.
“One can’t even respond to it … people are literally fleeing, people have lost their lives”: @GavinNewsom reacts to President-elect Trump blaming him for the California wildfires. pic.twitter.com/Kw6bJyUWbR
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) January 9, 2025
Newsom concluded feigning outrage over Trump by trying to contrast his behavior with President Joe Biden, with whom he had made an appearance, saying, Biden “didn’t play politics” and “had the backs of every single person in this community.”
For context, Newsom’s comments about Trump came after the president-elect took to Truth Social, making a series of posts blasting Newsom’s leadership — or lack thereof — for the fires.
“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,” Trump wrote.
In 2020, Newsom filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration to block federal water rules that would have brought an estimated 600,000 acre-feet of water in an average year from Northern California further south.
He did so on the basis of the Endangered Species Act, claiming it applied to the delt smelt, or “worthless fish” mentioned by Trump.
The Biden administration sided with Newsom in December on the issue.
Now reports are flowing in that fire hydrants lack water, confirmed by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
“On top of it all, no water for fire hydrants, not firefighting planes. A true disaster!” Trump’s post concluded.
In another post, Trump continued to take aim at Newsom and Biden: “The fires in Los Angeles may go down, in dollar amount, as the worst in the History of our Country. In many circles, they’re 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!”
Trump followed this with another post about how containment efforts were going.
“Fire is spreading rapidly for 3 days — ZERO CONTAINMENT. Nobody has ever seen such failed numbers before! Gross incompetence by Gavin Newscum and Karen Bass….And Biden’s FEMA has no money — all wasted on the Green New Scam! L.A. is a total wipeout!!!”
Trump is not “politicizing” these fires by simply reminding Americans how California got to this point.
A disaster doesn’t magically give Newsom the ability to deflect all criticism.
His time as governor definitely plays a role in how bad this situation has become.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
