In a Saturday interview with NBC News Meet the Press, California Governor Gavin Newsom attacked President-elect Donald Trump’s handling of the California wildfires, stating, “I don’t think mis- and disinformation advantages or aids any of us.”
Since the fires started Tuesday, Trump has been attacking Newsom, President Joe Biden, and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Truth Social, which Newsom seemed to be referencing.
The president-elect falsely stated in one post that Newsom had obstructed a bill that would have permitted water to move from Northern California to Southern California.
Using a derogatory nickname for Newsom, Trump wrote that Governor Gavin Newscum refused to sign the water restoration declaration that would have permitted 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 in that statement that Newsom’s attempt to save a smelt, a species that is practically useless, by reducing its water intake was unsuccessful. and he has the responsibility for this.
“We would spend another month responding to Donald Trump’s insults,” Newsom told Jacob Soboroff of NBC News. I know them rather well. He knows them well, as does every elected figure with whom he disagrees.
Trump was somehow linking the delta smelt to this fire, he continued, which is unacceptable because it is untrue. Additionally, it is nonsensical to anyone who is familiar with the state’s water policy.
Trump said, “No money in FEMA, no water in the fire hydrants,” in another post. JOE BIDEN IS LEAVING ME WITH THIS. JOE, THANK YOU! Obama seemed to make the untrue assertion that funds had been taken from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, as he did in the wake of multiple storms last year.
Devastating wildfires in the greater Los Angeles area have claimed the lives of at least 16 people.
Newsom invited Trump to visit his state and see the devastation in a letter he wrote on Friday.
The governor added, “I invite you to return to California to meet with the Americans impacted by these fires, witness the destruction firsthand, and join me and others in expressing our gratitude to the brave firefighters and first responders who are risking their lives to save lives.”
On Saturday, Newsom informed Soboroff that he had not heard back on the letter.
He also expressed concern that the president-elect would follow through on his pledge to deny the state disaster assistance following his administration.
Trump’s recent attempts to deny federal disaster assistance to states with leaders he was at odds with were noted by Newsom.
In Utah, he has done it. He has done it in Puerto Rico and Michigan. In 2018, before I was even governor, he did it to California, according to Newsom.
He has been doing this for a very long time. By the way, he also threatened Georgia, but it goes beyond the states. That’s his style, then. Additionally, the governor stated, “We take it seriously to the extent that it has taken a little bit more time in the past [to get federal aid].”