As a series of devastating wildfires ravages parts of Southern California, Donald Trump and his allies have seized on the moment to gloat, spread disinfo and politicize the still unfolding tragedy.
The fires, which began Tuesday and have spread rapidly due to 80 miles-per-hour Santa Ana winds, have so far killed five people, destroyed thousands of homes and businesses, and have forced almost 180,000 people to evacuate. One of the fires in the Pacific Palisaides, which has burned over 17,000 acres, has now been named the most destructive fire in Los Angeles history and has yet to be contained.
Despite the enormous gravity of the tragedy, figures on the right, including Trump and Elon Musk, have used the ongoing devastation as an opportunity to blast Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom for the natural disaster, and to promote blatantly false information about why this tragedy has become so disastrous.
It’s a toxic and familiar strategy among right-wingers in the face of tragedy, Bill Adair, founder of PolitiFact and author of “Beyond the Big Lie,” said in an interview with TPM.
“This is a rerun of what we have seen in other tragedies,” he said. “The tragedies become political and the lies come from the right. And it’s just sadly predictable and it just seems to happen every time.”
Right-wingers flooded the internet with misinformation and conspiracy theories following the East Palestine train derailment in February 2023. Trump and his allies were behind similar efforts to boost disinfo about the FEMA response to hurricane damage in North Carolina this fall, as well. And just last week, Trump was personally spreading debunked information about the attack in New Orleans over New Years, attempting to make the tragic incident a border control issue.
“We’re so early in the Los Angeles fires that we don’t know the details about the challenges that the firefighters are facing,” Adair continued. “But in the absence of facts, the people on the right have filled it with these unsubstantiated claims.”
On Wednesday, Trump took to Truth Social to comment on the disaster, saying: “One of the best and most beautiful parts of the United States of America is burning down to the ground. It’s ashes, and Gavin Newscum should resign. This is all his fault!!!”
And in a separate post the same day, Trump claimed that Newson “refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snow melt from the North, to flow daily into many parts of California, including the areas that are currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way.”
“I will demand that this incompetent governor allow beautiful, clean, fresh water to FLOW INTO CALIFORNIA! He is the blame for this. On top of it all, no water for fire hydrants, not firefighting planes,” Trump said.
In response to Trump’s “water restoration declaration” claims, Newsom’s office clarified in a post on X that no such document exists and that the claim is “pure fiction.”
Billionaire Elon Musk also seized on the moment to politicize the disaster, blaming the situation on diversity, equity, and inclusion policies in California. In response to a video clip on X announcing the LA city council’s vote to appoint the first woman to lead the Los Angeles Fire Department, Musk wrote, “DEI means people DIE.”
And Fox News host Jesse Waters blamed Native Americans and Newsom for the devastation saying in a news segment on Wednesday that “Gavin’s been tearing down dams. Why? Because the Indians wanted some of the river back so they could catch salmon. Gavin didn’t just knock down one dam for the Indians, he knocked down all four.”
