Elex Michaelson, a news anchor with Fox 11 Los Angeles, issued a brutal reminder to elected officials that “people are really hurting” amid his city’s devastating wildfires as he scolded those who’ve tried to politicize the tragedy.
“It is disgusting and gross that any leader would take this opportunity as a moment to score political points,” said Michaelson, when asked by progressive podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen what he makes of President-elect Donald Trump “exploiting” the fires to attack California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).
“And any of those people, Democrat or Republican, I invite them to come to Pacific Palisades. Come to Altadena and walk those streets like I did yesterday. Look around and then say the same thing in good conscience.”
Earlier in the interview published on Sunday, Michaelson said officials are “finger-pointing” and there “isn’t a lot of working together” publicly amid the fires, which have killed at least 25 people and destroyed thousands of homes.
He noted that Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley declared that the city failed her department, Newsom issued a letter to the city’s department of water and power calling for a probe into the loss of water pressure to fire hydrants and Trump blamed the governor for the fires altogether.
Right-wing critics have blamed diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives for the fires while Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), have supported placing conditions on disaster aid for California.
Michaelson, later in his interview with Cohen, explained that the “reason” we have a government is for situations like the one in Los Angeles where leaders can provide a “safety net” for residents.
“And if the government doesn’t get its act together, it’s disastrous not only for the people impacted, it’s disastrous for the economy of this country, of this county, of this state. It’s disastrous for everybody,” he said.
He went on to note that Trump made his name in real estate and as a “builder” so he welcomes the president-elect to “show off how great he is at building.”
“Come in here, show everybody how it’s done. If the Democrats can’t do it right, you do it better,” Michaelson said.
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“I don’t care who does it, but somebody’s got to do it because these people need help.”