Newsom: Trump’s Politicizing Wildfires ‘Incomprehensible,’ ‘Threatening Our First Responders’
Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) claimed Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that President-elect Donald Trump was politicizing wildfires in Southern California.
Reporter Jacob Soboroff asked, “President-elect Trump has blamed you for this crisis. He’s called you incompetent. What’s your response?”
Newsom said, “Well, I called for him to come out, take a look for himself. We want to do it in the spirit of an open hand, not a closed fist. He’s the president-elect. I respect the office. We have a president of the United States that within 36 hours provided a major disaster declaration over a text. We had support from the President of the United States, Joe Biden, with 100% reimbursement, all the resources you could hope for, imagine, constant communication. I’d like to extend that to the president-elect. I don’t know what he’s referring to when he talks about the Delta smelt in reservoirs. The reservoirs are completely full, the state reservoirs here in Southern California. That mis- and disinformation I don’t think advantages or aids any of us. Responding to Donald Trump’s insults, we would spend another month. I’m very familiar with them. Every elected official that he disagrees with is very familiar with them.”
He continued, “That was not a state system reservoir that the President-elect was referring to as it relates to the Delta and somehow connecting the Delta smelt with the fire which is inexcusable because it’s inaccurate also incomprehensible to anyone who understands water policy in the state.”
When asked about Trump withholding aid, Newsom said, “He’s done it in Utah. He’s done it in Michigan, did it in Puerto Rico. He did it to California back before I was even governor in 2018, until he found out folks in Orange County voted for him and then he decided to give the money. So he’s been at this for years and years and years. It transcends the states, including, by the way, Georgia he threatened similarly. So that’s his style. And we take it seriously to the extent that in the past it’s taken a little bit more time. I’ve been pretty expressive about that in the context of someone threatening our first responders in terms of supporting the immediacy of their needs or recovery of our community.”
Soboroff asked, “That’s what you take it as, that President-elect Trump is threatening the first responders here?”
Newsom said, “Well, I mean, it’s what he said. He said I’m not going to support the fire-fighting efforts. I’m not going to support the state of California as it relates to its emergency management, he made this pretty clear during the election, unless they do my bidding.”
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