House Republican Representative Warren Davidson was criticized after telling Fox Business that he has a "problem" with California's policies—before asserting that Congress should withhold aid to the state amid the deadly wildfires sweeping the Los Angeles area.
Firefighters are battling to contain three active wildfires in the Los Angeles area as forecasters warn of the return of winds capable of intensifying the blazes. These wildfires have already scorched an area larger than San Francisco, claimed at least 24 lives, and forced approximately 150,000 people to evacuate.
The National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning for parts of Los Angeles city and county, with wind gusts of up to 70 mph predicted between early Tuesday morning and midday Wednesday. These conditions are expected to create the potential for “explosive fire growth,” officials said.
The fires have collectively burned over 40,000 acres. The Palisades Fire, the largest of the three, was 14 percent contained as of Monday morning. The Eaton Fire, the deadliest, has taken 16 lives, making it one of California’s most fatal wildfires, and was reported to be 33 percent contained. The causes of the fires are still under investigation.
But according to Davidson, none of that is as important as sticking it to California for historically opposing GOP policies, suggesting the state should comply if it wants help from the federal government that President-elect Donald Trump will take the reins of next week:
"People are losing their home insurance for fire because of policies the state government is doing. If they want the money, then there should be consequences where they have to change their policies." ...
"California wants the money without changing the policies that are making the problem bad or worse and I don't see how Republicans could possibly support that. I mean, we support the people that are plagued by disaster but we have to put pressure on the California government to change course here.”
When asked by Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo if he's personally witnessed some of this "pushback" from his GOP colleagues, Davidson falsely claimed that the Biden administration has not helped people impacted by Hurricane Helene, which tore through multiple southern states last year:
"I think so, but how do you do that? You don't want to send the message to families, 'Oh, we're not going to take care of you.' They certainly didn't have a problem saying that to people in North Carolina in the Biden administration."
"Instead, the Biden administration says, 'Don't worry about it, we're going to take care of everything,' so there's a different response when it's where the Hollywood elites live. That's disappointing from the Biden administration but help is on the way from President Trump and a new administration."
"But when it comes to federal funding, the idea that we're going to have an open checkbook no matter how bad your policies are is crazy. You know, Florida is prone to hurricanes so they do lots of things to mitigate the risk of hurricanes. California's prone to fires but they do things to make the fires worse instead of responding to make things more resilient."
You can hear what he said in the video below.
Many condemned Davidson's remarks.
The Biden administration says it “remains laser-focused on helping survivors, and we will continue to use every tool available to support the urgent firefight as the winds are projected to increase.”
Amid right-wing attacks toward California and its governor, Democrat Gavin Newsom, officials warn that the death toll from the fires is likely to rise as search teams comb through affected neighborhoods.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Monday that the "devastation has been staggering," noting how the fires moved through densely populated areas and wiped out entire blocks.
