In a political dispute on Thursday, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump clashed with President Joe Biden and California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom over the devastating wildfire spreading across Los Angeles County. Since the fire broke out on Tuesday, Los Angeles authorities have yet to bring it under control. In response, Trump began blaming the Democrats without any evidence, accusing Governor Newsom of several failures, including wasting water.
Trump said on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Thursday, “Gavin Newsom (Governor Newsom) should resign. It’s all his failure!” He further added, “The devastating fire in Los Angeles is saying, ‘There’s no time left to wait until January 20th,'” the day he is set to officially take over the White House from Joe Biden. “Let this be a symbol of the incompetence and mismanagement of the Biden-Newsom duo,” Trump stated.
On the same day, President Biden held an emergency meeting with administrative officials at the White House. During the meeting, he counterattacked Trump, stating that people should not politicize the wildfire situation.
Biden was also scheduled to meet with Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholic Church, as part of his final phase of presidency. However, due to the wildfire situation, he canceled the visit a day earlier.
Angry at Trump’s remarks, Biden responded, saying, “I am leaving office very soon, but this (wildfire) is not a political matter. It’s about giving people the sense of security that we will be able to bring it under control.”
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden made several announcements regarding the provision of financial aid and other resources from the federal government to assist in combating the most devastating wildfire in California’s history. However, he seemed more focused on refuting Republican accusations regarding water shortages and mismanagement on the part of Democrats, which have hindered the control of the wildfire.
Trump has accused Governor Newsom of blocking the normal water flow by preventing snowmelt, which is leading to insufficient water for controlling the wildfire.
However, the Biden administration has a different explanation. According to them, the primary issue is electricity. Power companies have cut off electricity supply due to concerns that if the power supply remained on, faulty transmission lines could exacerbate the wildfire. As a result, water pumps have been shut down.
In an emergency meeting at the White House, Joe Biden asked officials to better communicate this argument. He said, “During a crisis, rumors and fear spread quickly, and people who aren’t informed correctly start blaming local officials, claiming they are not caring enough.”
Biden further stated, “The fire in Los Angeles shows that climate change is indeed happening.”