Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti
Eric GarcettiSunday shows preview: With less than two months to go, race for the White House heats up TikTok stars Bryce Hall, Blake Gray charged for throwing house parties during pandemic Latino Victory to boost Alex Padilla to fill Harris’s potential Senate seat MORE (D) slammed President Trump
Donald John TrumpTrump slams Nevada governor at rally, takes aim at mail-in voting Former NFL coach Mike Holmgren slams Trump pandemic response, throws support to Biden Watch Live: Trump rallies supporters in Nevada MORE on Sunday over his response to the wildfires blazing across California and his dismissal of climate change as their cause.
Garcetti during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” praised cooperation from federal officials, but said the leadership “at the very top” needs to be stronger, and that Trump needs to focus on helping Americans in need, regardless of party, instead of basing decisions “on an electoral map.”
He also hit Trump for blaming “blue states over red states,” noting that the “million Republicans in the city of Los Angeles” don’t change the mayor’s response to the blazing fires.
“We need leadership that is equal across this country,” Garcetti said.
“We need actual help, not based on our party affiliation or how we voted,” he added.
Trump is scheduled to visit California on Monday. He approved a major disaster declaration for California in August, but the president has also claimed the fires are due to years of poor forest management in the state.
Asked on Sunday about Trump’s claims on forest management, Garcetti said he listens to fire professionals, not the president or politicians, “[w]hen it comes to what causes fires.”
“Anybody who lives in California is insulted by that, quite frankly, and he keeps perpetuating the lie,” Garcetti added.
