Bill Maher slams Karen Bass, Cali officials for fire response: ‘Fiddling in Ghana while the city burned’
HBO host Bill Maher, in the closing monologue of his show on Friday, blasted local government for how officials are handling the wildfires that have ravaged Los Angeles.
The host of the “Right Time” show harshly criticized local officials for being unprepared and prioritizing DEI’s initiatives over a competent fire response. He also attacked Democratic Mayor Karen Bass for being outside the country when the fires started in LA County.
“LA Mayor Karen Bass, the Nero of American politics, fumbled in Ghana while the city burned,” Maher said.
CALIFORNIA FIRES: ESSENTIAL PHONE NUMBERS FOR LOS ANGELES AREA RESIDENTS AND HOW YOU CAN HELP THEM
HBO host Bill Maher blasted Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass for her response to this week’s wildfires. (Bob Riha Jr / Contributor | Rodin Eckenroth / Stringer)
Maher attacked the government for not having the resources to fight the fires, sharing an Axios article about how complicated it is to get water from fire hydrants in Pacific Palisades, an LA neighborhood particularly ravaged by the inferno.
The host saw this as a weak excuse, saying: “I’m sure it is. I’m sure it’s very complicated. That’s why I pay 13 percent of my income to the state every year to people who I assume worked on things like this.”
Maher ripped apart Bass’s excuse that he wasn’t ready. He quoted her words fires they were so bad because of “eight months of negligible rain and winds not seen in LA in at least 14 years.”
The host scoffed at the sentence, saying: “Yeah, that’s not that long of a time. Maybe look in the history books to see how our ancestors handled it in 2011.”
He also slammed Bass for cutting the Los Angeles Fire Department. For the 2024-2025 fiscal year, Bass cut $17 million from the LAFD budget, after originally wanting to cut $23 million.
People look at smoke and flames from the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood on January 7, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Tiffany Rose/Getty Images)
As Maher noted, Bass insisted the cuts didn’t affect the city’s readiness. In response, he brought LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley‘a slightly different approach.’
“She said, ‘We’re screaming to be well-funded,'” the host said, adding, “And yes, the budget has been cut and that has affected our ability to provide services.”
He then mocked the city for appearing to prioritize DEI initiatives among its first responders. “We just got – struck by fire, something the Neanderthals fought to a draw. The good news is our fire chief is a lesbian,” he said, again mentioning Crowley.
Maher clarified that he saw nothing wrong with having a lesbian boss, but suggested that she was chosen because of her sexual identity. “Or maybe they really wanted a lesbian for the job and she’s just the best lesbian for the job, and with basic services, that’s not good enough.”
LA FIRES: LORENZO LAMAS CALLS CALIFORNIA’S LACK OF PREPARATION ‘ABSOLUTELY REGRET’
To back up his hunch, Maher read from Crowley’s LAFD biography, which stated, “Chief Crowley leads a diverse department … Creating, supporting and promoting a culture that values diversity, inclusion and equality while striving to meet and exceed expectations community…”
The host trashed the bio, saying, “Well, you haven’t exceeded my expectations, which is that the whole city won’t burn down. But it’s telling that diversity is mentioned twice before we get to ‘while’ – ‘while I strive’ to meet ‘expectations.’ “
Maher blasted his home state as a place that “spends money and gets nothing, which is why you may have noticed that when the fires broke out, no one escaped on the high-speed rail.”
“We have the highest marginal tax rate in America, higher than almost every other state… What’s included in that? Loaves? Because obviously it doesn’t cover fire,” he said. “That’s the government’s job. To protect us from crime, violence, theft, fires. I’m not saying Alabama would be better off with the fires if they were fought by prayer in school, but look me in the eye and tell me anyone could have done worse .”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
