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Gavin Newsom Reshares Musk Interview With L.A. Firefighter To Expose His Wildfire 'Lies'

Gavin Newsom; Elon Musk
Bill Pugliano/Getty Images; Ludovic Marin/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Governor Gavin Newsom posted a livestream video of Elon Musk speaking with a California firefighter, which exposed Musk's lies about the fires.

The County of Los Angeles, California—the most populous county in the United States with over 9.5 million residents located in cities like Malibu, Palisades, Beverly Hills, and Los Angeles—has been experiencing a week of devastating wildfires.

In addition to battling the fires, LA County and the state of California find themselves facing massive disinformation campaigns from right-wing media, conservative pundits, well-known conspiracy theorists, and Republican leaders to push their political agenda steeped in patriarchy, White supremacy, and Christian nationalism.


International news media featured headlines like The Guardian's:

"US right wing fans misinformation fires as firefighters battle Los Angeles blazes"
"A similar campaign of rumors and lies was seen after the North Carolina hurricane, with DEI a primary target"

The efforts are so dangerous and pervasive, California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom was forced to establish The California Fire Facts webpage to help people access real, substantiated facts and accurate, up-to-date information.

@GavinNewsom/X

One spreader of that disinformation is X (f.k.a. Twitter) owner and CEO Elon Musk, who has used his social media platform to amplify his worldview—which includes climate change denial and other conspiracy theories and misinformation.

But on Sunday, Governor Newsom used X to share a Musk livestream encounter with a fire command team member who countered a favored wildfire lie being spread by right-wingers—namely that L.A. County created a water shortage through mismanagement before the fires started.

Governor Newsom captioned the video, while tagging Musk:

"[Elon Musk] exposed by firefighters for his own lies."

You can see the video here:


Look at Gov. Gavin Newsom out here exposing lies 🔥

[image or embed]
— Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline.com) January 13, 2025 at 1:04 AM

Musk is seen speaking to a fire command team member about the Palisades Fire, asserting the coastal L.A. County neighborhood ran out of water.

Musk stated:

"In the Palisades, there was a shortage of water at a certain point, or is that not accurate?"

But he was corrected when the unidentified firefighter responded:

"There was water, we have water reservoirs."

He then explained the difference between water volume and pressure. More fires equates to less water pressure per fire, regardless of the volume of available water.

Dumbing it down for Musk, the firefighter replied:

"Just an example, if we have one building burning, we can flow 1,000 gallons [3,785 liters] a minute on that one building."

But no water system currently in use to fight fires can sustain that pace across a massive conflagration with multiple individual fires.

He added:

"The amount of water we’re flowing, there really is no water system that’s gonna keep that pace, so we have to bring in water tenders, which are these big water tanks, you know, 2,500- to 3,000-gallon trucks, and they’ll come in, and that’s what we have to do to compensate."

Water tanker trucks brought in by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power helped firefighters as mobile fire hydrants independent of the overtaxed main water system while helicopters and tanker planes—including some brought by Canadian firefighting forces—dropped ocean water.

California has expanded its response efforts, welcoming assistance from Texas, Canada, and Mexico to join neighboring states already providing critical support in battling the Southern California wildfires. #LAFires #MutualAid

[image or embed]
— CAL FIRE (@calfire.bsky.social) January 11, 2025 at 6:31 PM


California has built up an aerial firefighting fleet that is second to none. We're making sure that first responders battling the Los Angeles wildfires are equipped with all they need to help suppress the blazes and save Californians.

[image or embed]
— Governor Newsom (@governor.ca.gov) January 11, 2025 at 10:23 PM


But these added water sources were not deployed because of a water reservoir shortage caused by L.A. County Fire Department or California government incompetence—as Musk and others continue to claim. The supplemental water was needed because of the number and scope of the wildfires.

After the exchange failed to lay blame where Musk wanted, he stopped the recording.

Others are also using social media to push back against right-wing disinformation.

People called out Musk directly for his part in pushing an anti-women, anti-LGBTQ+, anti-climate change reality agenda.


There will be four years of “California Is A Disastrous Hellscape” as Republicans try to discredit Newsom as the Democrats next presidential candidate. Mark my words, there will be sham hearings the likes of Hunter Biden. The media will happily go along with this.
— KB from MA (@kiralynne.bsky.social) January 13, 2025 at 3:22 PM



Why is he in these spaces? Why is anyone briefing Musk on anything?
— Kara G (@karacocoa.bsky.social) January 13, 2025 at 12:16 PM



I am sorry. I am confused. Is Elon Musk the president? How the hell is it that we have to give this asshole briefings. This is so demented! I am just blown away that because this man has all the toys in the toy box-the governor and the fire chief have to take time out to brief him. AMERICA WAKE UP!
— Christine (@buddhaclauser.bsky.social) January 13, 2025 at 12:44 PM



Nono, I can understand why he's getting a briefing. I mean after all the richest man on earth donated to the fire brigade the hefty sum of *checks notes* Zero Dollars.
— Doctor Fellasaur (@doctordinosaur.bsky.social) January 13, 2025 at 2:35 PM


Pacific Institute—a California research organization focused on water—co-founder Peter Gleick told The New York Times that Southern California reservoir levels are actually above normal for this time of year.

Southern California's water supplies are well-equipped to support local communities fighting the wildfires. Many of the state’s largest reservoirs are currently at or above their historic average storage levels for this time of year.

[image or embed]
— Governor Newsom (@governor.ca.gov) January 9, 2025 at 6:10 PM

Gleick stated:

"There’s no water shortage."
"The real issue is that urban water systems are not built or designed to fight massive, urban wildfires."

Perhaps Musk and other self-proclaimed experts could turn their energy toward developing higher-capacity urban water systems to address the wildfires that climate change will inevitably continue to bring globally.

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