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Fires currently raging through California have done milions of dollars worth of damage, scorched countless acres of land, cost the lives of tons of animals and several people, and left a staggering number of people homeless. Relief efforts are pouring in from across the nation. People are mobilizing to try and lend a hand wherever they can. It's a crisis that's receiving worldwide attention.
The magnitude of the fires and relief efforts aren't the only thing getting attention around the world. Trump's tweet regarding the situation has people furious. Trump's tweet didn't show any sign of remorse or concern for the people or wildlife of California. Nope, not even the "thoughts and prayers" kind. What it did show was a lack of empathy, a staggering ability to victim-blame, a lack of understanding of what's going on or how forest management works, and a bottom line concern for money over everything else.
Here's the tweet.
There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is… https://t.co/k5gzPlaT4E— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump)1541837332.0
People called him out with record speed.
@realDonaldTrump Sir, you need to educate yourself regarding forest management. You also need to give a message of… https://t.co/hbcUpkGSwY— Sandydee58 (@Sandydee58)1542006157.0
We are homeless, lost everything and Red Cross told us there is no federal help i.e. Food cards, trailers etc. tru… https://t.co/MM46djwlJQ— Elissa (@Elissa)1541859721.0
@realDonaldTrump The Federal Forestry Service has been starved by your administration’s reductions in funding. It a… https://t.co/FPWJVUVH9Y— Luis Camacho (@Luis Camacho)1541997705.0
@realDonaldTrump *fun fact* roughly 98% of california forests are *federal* land MEANING they are managed by *YOUR*… https://t.co/80umowzX0b— Alexa Rossini (@Alexa Rossini)1541894540.0
@MWoolfNY @realDonaldTrump Give him a second, he'll get there— Irene M. Cho (@Irene M. Cho)1542009283.0
It's one thing for the average citizen to call him out, they're not in the public eye and don't normally risk anything by speaking out against him. This tweet was so outrageous, though, that celebs - even some who are normally pretty quiet on the political front - came out in droves to stand up against his response. Even Richard Marx got mad... like... we didn't know that this level of anger was possible from the king of 80's soft rock.
So. Not. Having. It.
This is an absolutely heartless response. There aren’t even politics involved. Just good American families losing t… https://t.co/wHkmRRiKak— KATY PERRY (@KATY PERRY)1541839856.0
Our National Embarrassment can't bring himself to show some empathy to Californians dealing with a horrific disaste… https://t.co/1s5uy4vwqX— John Legend (@John Legend)1541867062.0
In a terrible urban fire in Los Angeles, Trump shows his ignorance and lack of empathy by blaming forest management… https://t.co/sIc6tT5UJ2— Barbra Streisand (@Barbra Streisand)1541888478.0
9 killed so far; many others missing; and this is what the President tweets. The man is a soulless cretin. An infec… https://t.co/n9Uep8cv7q— Richard Marx (@Richard Marx)1541839288.0
Mr. President, while people’s homes are burning, while lives are being lost & while firefighters are risking their… https://t.co/f4T6RBL2bi— Sir Rod Stewart (@Sir Rod Stewart)1541884463.0
Insensitive sociopathic empty-hearted PRICK. Thanks for the fucking pep talk. Done with you. https://t.co/Whz3HhtKzm— Butch Walker (@Butch Walker)1541865611.0
31 dead because of California fires & all Donald Trump can do is blame our forestry people. What an utter fucking disgrace of a President.— John Melendez (@John Melendez)1542036899.0
Trump threatened to pull federal funding over these fires, but apparently didn't realize that he had already done that. Over 90% of the land that has been burning is federally owned land - so the state of California has nothing to do with managing it. The baseless threat showed that Trump didn't bother to do any research into what was going on before spouting off about it, and that his main concern is money, not lives. Celebs understood that Trump isn't a fan of educating himself on these things and has been known to actively avoid "facts" and "data" because they're boring.
It's okay, they know he loves social media, so they took the time to offer up some education in a way they thought he might grasp. Celebs are feeling "helpful" that way lately.
Guess who cut the funding for fire management in California then blamed the fires on mismanagement? How do YOU spel… https://t.co/XtFzcn9PXV— Jim Carrey (@Jim Carrey)1541967844.0
FYI, .@realDonaldTrump! “...guess who owns much of the forest land in CA? Your federal agencies. CA only owns 2%.… https://t.co/vTWRgUo4UN— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa Milano)1541877017.0
@realDonaldTrump If Northern California had received anywhere near the typical amount of autumn rain this year, 4-5… https://t.co/2rzT8llVHi— John Lurie (@John Lurie)1541886767.0
@realDonaldTrump You won't allocate federal funds because California has mismanaged forests. The Camp Fire is in an… https://t.co/Ss1BfijXzF— Sylvie C (@Sylvie C)1541914251.0
Um...actually...it’s a lack of federal funding that’s at the “root” of the purported forest mismanagement. Only a d… https://t.co/VfpNOqcjpS— Axl Rose (@Axl Rose)1541901480.0
Before you get dragged down some Weekly Standard/Trump horse-shit rabbit hole, the fires in So. California are not… https://t.co/qr5azBnXig— Christopher Moore (@Christopher Moore)1541972607.0
#Trumpkin blamed wildfires in California on poor management of forests & water regulations. "Over 1/2 of forest lan… https://t.co/QVvGIxnYNc— Bette Midler (@Bette Midler)1541907550.0
Even officials and experts are over it. One went so far as to dismiss Trump's tweets as "inane and uninformed."
California Professional Firefighters President responds to @realDonaldTrump’s comments on the state’s fires: https://t.co/x49EyXeAre— Dan Thorn (@Dan Thorn)1541895621.0
NEW: In response to Pres. Trump threats to halt federal funding to the state, governor's office of California tells… https://t.co/eY2a6yJZDx— ABC News (@ABC News)1541970573.0
Intl Assn of Fire Fighters calls Trump's comment about wildfires burning in #California: "Irresponsible, reckless… https://t.co/69weDnCFLx— US News Agency (@US News Agency)1541913859.0
Make no mistake, these #wildfires have worsened because of climate change and historic drought, not because Califor… https://t.co/A6K5BefDez— ERIC BALFOUR (@ERIC BALFOUR)1541979626.0
Do you think Trump's statement was accurate or appropriate? Are you as angry as these celebs and experts are? Sound off!