By Nathan Layne, Helen Coster and Alexandra Ulmer
(Reuters) – For California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Democratic leaders in the left-leaning state, the wildfires still raging could have been an opportunity to show their ability and unity with the White House in the face of a natural disaster.
Instead, questions about the state’s preparedness and response to the massive wildfires have left party leaders vulnerable to escalating attacks from the right, in a possible prelude to the politicization of disaster responses under President-elect Donald Trump.
Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass tried to deflect criticism of their leadership, highlighting the unprecedented scale of wildfires that have leveled entire neighborhoods and killed at least 24 people in less than a week.
But with Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk using their social media reach to attack both leaders, the crisis has evolved into a political battle with lines drawn along two opposing visions of America: the left’s environmentally conscious and regulatory ethos versus the right’s skepticism of government expertise and progressive ideas.
Roger Salazar, a Sacramento-based Democratic strategist, said he believes Trump will continue to use California as a political base after he takes office on Jan. 20 as a way to advance the Republican agenda of regulatory and tax cuts.
“They want less regulation,” said Salazar, who was appointed by Newsom in 2020 to the unpaid position of chairman of the state’s recreation commission, but who is not involved in the disaster response. “The easiest way to do that is to demonize those on the other side.”
The political fallout comes with potentially dire consequences for the country’s most populous nation. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Trump ally, said Monday that Congress should set conditions on aid to California, saying local officials have mismanaged the response.
Trump, who derogatorily calls the governor “Newscum,” plans to tour the destruction next week, a source familiar with the matter said, following President Joe Biden’s trip to Los Angeles last week, where he pledged significant federal aid.
In an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press” over the weekend, Newsom criticized Trump and his allies for spreading what he described as misinformation and misinformation covering a range of topics from water and forest management to fish conservation programs.
Several claimed — without providing any evidence — that Los Angeles officials were more focused on ensuring racial and gender diversity in the ranks than putting out fires.
“DEI means people will DIE,” Musk wrote on his social media platform X, referring to the diversity, equity and inclusion agenda. The post had 38 million views.
Presidents and other political leaders have traditionally waited until a disaster has subsided to hear criticism from the air. Trump broke that precedent during the COVID-19 pandemic in his first term, when he openly fought governors.
“His federalism is: if you’re good to me, I’ll be good to you,” said Timothy Kneeland, a professor at Nazareth University in Rochester, New York, who has authored a book on natural disaster policy.
Kneeland said it’s counterproductive for Newsom and Bass to have to stand up to Trump’s attacks when “all of the government’s resources should be focused on putting out these fires, rescuing people and trying to help them recover.”
Zach Seidl, a spokesman for Bass, said the mayor is “laser focused” on keeping Angelenos safe and protecting property.
“She has secured the federal, state and local resources we need to continue fighting these fires and is moving forward with a recovery plan that is all of the above.”
Representatives for Newsom, Trump and Musk did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.
NEWSOM AS A FOIL
Many political analysts expected Newsom to use the run-up to Trump’s inauguration and the first days of his presidency as a period to position himself as his party’s standard bearer. Instead he was forced to play defense.
“Newsom should be living in Los Angeles right now and very focused on this disaster,” said Jon Fleischman, former executive director of the California Republican Party. “Will that stop him from really engaging with Trump and setting himself up as an alternative in 2028? Probably. But on the other hand, adversity creates opportunity.”
Newsom admitted that some things went wrong.
He called for an independent investigation into local water supplies, for example, after some fire hydrants ran dry Wednesday, particularly in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood.
Officials said before the storm, the city filled all available tanks, including the Palisades. The city’s water systems were working efficiently, officials said, but were not designed to fight wildfires. Palisades quickly depleted its three water tanks.
Trump used his Truth Social platform to portray water shortages and widespread destruction as evidence of “gross incompetence and mismanagement by the Biden/Newscum duo.”
Bass, who was on a business trip to Ghana when the fires broke out on Tuesday, has come under similar criticism from Trump. When asked about her travels at a press conference last week, Bass declined to answer directly.
Trump also falsely claimed that Newsom prioritized the conservation of a small endangered fish called a smolt over public safety. In an interview with “Meet the Press,” Newsom called any connection between fish and fire “inexcusable because it’s incorrect.”
The ongoing firefight reflects a broader effort by Trump and his allies to portray Newsom — and Democratic leaders elsewhere — as part of a wealthy establishment out of step with much of the American public.
Thus, in June, Musk himself made the decision to move the headquarters of SpaceX and X from California to Texas, pointing to a law passed by California that prohibits school districts from requiring parents to be informed of the child’s gender.
Berkeley political scientist Henry Brady said the attack on California makes political sense for conservatives.
“Watch Fox News,” he said. “California is a bogeyman. California has out-of-control cities. California is doing all these crazy things with climate change. We’re a people who have sanctuary cities and places where people wake up beyond belief.”
He added, “Punishing California is something that, from their perspective, is a positive thing.”
