The governor of California slammed incoming President-elect Donald Trump for spreading false claims about efforts to curtail the deadly wildfires ravaging the south of the state.
In a Sunday interview with MSNBC’s Meet the Press, Gov. Gavin Newsom told reporter Jacob Soboroff that Trump had not taken him up on an open invitation to come and survey the damage in Southern California.
As Soboroff put it to Newsom, “President-elect Trump has blamed you for the crisis. He called you incompetent, what’s your response?”
Newsom shot back, “Well I call for him to come and take a look for himself. We wanna do it in the spirit of an open hand, not a closed fist. He’s the president-elect. I respect the office.”
The fires, which first broke out on Tuesday, have already claimed 16 lives and are forecast to eventually cost the state at least $135 billion in damage to property and infrastructure, reported The Washington Post.
However, various far-right pundits have used the fires to stoke conspiracy theories, casting doubt on Mayor Karen Bass’ preparedness and response to the emergency.
Fanning the flames, Trump claimed that Southern California is suffering from a water shortage due to the state’s efforts to preserve the local population of delta smelt, a species of fish.
Responding to these claims on Sunday, Newsom said, “I don’t know what he’s referring to when he talks about the delta smelt [or] the reservoirs. The reservoirs are completely full, the state reservoirs here are completely full here in Southern California.”
He added, “That mis- and disinformation I don’t think advantages or aids any of us. Responding to Donald Trump’s insults, we would spend another month… I’m very familiar with every elected official he disagrees with, very familiar with them.”
