Florida Governor Ron DeSantis lashed out at a journalist on Thursday, questioning why California’s leaders seem to escape scrutiny over their wildfire management, while Republican figures are often ridiculed following crises.
This heated moment came just after DeSantis and other Republican governors attended a dinner alongside President-elect Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
The clash with the reporter occurred during a conversation aimed at another governor, focusing on whether Trump’s criticisms of California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom were justified amidst a catastrophic wildfire outbreak.
DeSantis stepped into the exchange and asked, “Is it appropriate for people in your industry to try to create division and to try to create narratives any time these things happen?”
The Florida governor continued, “Now, you’re not as interested in doing that because Newsom is a D. If Newsom was a Republican, you guys would go try… you would have him nailed to the wall for what they’re doing over there.”
“If Newsom were a Republican, you guys would have him nailed to a wall.”
“When we had the Surfside tower collapse, I had people from the Washington Post trying to blame me for it.”
“That Mayor of L.A. ..you know the fires are at high risk and you try to go to Africa?”– DeSantis pic.twitter.com/MICYxZkTTn
— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) January 10, 2025
He went further, criticizing journalists for their apparent double standards. “And I know we’ve dealt with it,” DeSantis stated. “We just assume in Florida, anytime something happens, it’s going to be politicized by the media.”
“So you guys sitting in judgment of Donald Trump, I mean, excuse me, I think your track record of politicizing these things is very, very bad.”
He concluded with a jab at journalists by reiterating, “I think your track record of politicizing these things is very, very bad.”
Taking aim at Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, DeSantis pointed out that if her recent trip to Ghana occurred under a Republican leader, the backlash would have been overwhelming.
“That mayor of LA, if that were a Republican mayor, I could only imagine what that would do,” he warned. “I mean, you know, the fires are at high risk and you try to go to Africa or wherever she was to go on some type of voyage? You should have been there preparing and doing that. And yet I don’t see a lot of heat being directed on that thing.”
DeSantis pushed for fairness, adding, “I’d like to see some balance on how this is done. You can criticize the president-elect, but you also have to hold these other people accountable, and I have not seen that.”
Meanwhile, on Friday during a video call Newsom sniveled to Joe Biden about all the heat he’s receiving for his handling of the wildfire crisis and asked the president to help shield him from it.
“I ask you, we’ve got to deal with this misinformation,” he said, citing what he described as an overwhelming wave of lies. “There were hurricane force winds of mis[information] and disinformation—lies.”
“There are hurricane force winds of mis- and disinformation. People want to divide this country. We’ll have to address that as well. It breaks my heart. … You wonder where this stuff comes from.”
— California Gov. Gavin Newsom during wildfire briefing with Biden and Harris pic.twitter.com/AOdhTu2xKO
— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) January 10, 2025
“People want to divide this country, and we’re gonna have to address that as well,” he whined. “And it breaks my heart, as people are suffering and struggling, that we’re up against those hurricane forces as well, and that’s just a point of personal privilege that I share that with you, because it infects real people that are out there, people I meet every single day, people the mayor has been meeting with, and they’re having conversations that are not the typical conversations you’d have at this time, and you wonder where this stuff comes from and it’s very damaging as well.”
Despite his complaining over the backlash, Newsom is under the spotlight for his decision to slash wildfire prevention budgets less than a year prior to the current crisis.
Newsweek revealed that the California governor cut $101 million from wildfire and forest resilience programs when signing a budget law in June 2024.
The reductions have sparked significant backlash after investigators discovered they affected several initiatives designed to prevent and combat fires.
These changes reportedly cut $5 million from CAL FIRE’s fuel reduction team, part of a program involving vegetation clearance that works alongside the California National Guard.
Once budgeted at $134 million, the program saw its funding plummet to $129 million, sparking concerns about whether this restraint accelerated the spread of fire through uncleared brush and trees.
Additional cuts involved $4 million stripped from a forest legacy program encouraging sustainable landowner practices and $28 million pulled from state conservancies aimed at enhancing forest fire resistance.
CAL FIRE also experienced decreased support as $8 million was shaved off monitoring and research projects, while $3 million allocated for an interagency forest data hub was rescinded.
Another controversial decision was to reduce by $12 million a pilot scheme aimed at hardening California homes to make them more resilient to wildfire threats.
Critics have argued that these cutbacks left California vulnerable and less prepared for this year’s devastating wildfire outbreaks.
Former President Donald Trump didn’t hold back when speaking out against Newsom’s handling of the crisis. Trump claimed the governor had failed to prioritize essential protections, calling for his resignation.
“One of the best and most beautiful parts of the United States of America is burning down to the ground,” Trump wrote. “It’s ashes, and Gavin Newscum should resign. This is all his fault!!!”
