https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/08/politics/trump-newsom-los-angeles-fires-analysis/index.html
In Trump’s misinformation game, it doesn’t really matter whether it’s true that Newsom is responsible for diverting water to protect the delta smelt – “a worthless fish” in Trump’s words – and that, as a result, homes of Angelenos were burned down. The president-elect just needs enough people to believe it might be the case to inflict political damage on the governor, who’s one of the nation’s most high-profile Democrats and a possible 2028 presidential hopeful.
There are many previous examples of Trump politicizing national crises.
In 2017, he was criticized for his handling of Hurricane Maria that devastated Puerto Rico and killed nearly 3,000 people. There is blame to go around when relief efforts fall short, and the then-president was not solely responsible for the missteps in the federal and local responses. But he repeatedly blamed local leaders and complained about the level of aid that was required, falsely claiming that the operation was an “an incredible, unsung success.”
And Trump’s management of the Covid-19 pandemic contained multiple examples of him trying to preserve his political fortunes that ironically helped seal his defeat in the 2020 election.
More recently, Trump seized on the terror attack that killed 14 people in New Orleans on January 1, falsely implying on social media that the suspect was an undocumented migrant who recently crossed the southern border.
It was a reminder that in times of national stress, the president-elect’s first response has sometimes been to seek political gain instead of promoting unity and facts-based responses.
Perhaps it would be more interesting to note how leftist anti-israel groups including some that claim to be Jewish are blaming the fires on Israel.
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