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It’s no secret that Gavin Newsom wants to be president. In 2023, he started laying the groundwork for a presidential campaign under the guise of creating a national organization to oppose Republicans in other states. He’s done quite a bit to increase his national exposure — including that debate with Gov. Ron DeSantis, which didn’t do Newsom any favors.

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For all the things that Newsom has tried to buoy his presidential ambitions, competent governance just hasn’t been one of them. The wildfires raging across Los Angeles County are the latest proof that Newsom (and frankly, other Democrat leaders in power) don’t know how to effectively govern during a crisis. 

With over 30,000 acres scorched, 2,000 buildings reduced to ash, and at least five lives lost, the situation remains dire, with no containment in sight. Yet, the state’s ineffective response has drawn as much attention as the flames themselves.

On Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom attempted to project leadership with a joint briefing alongside Joe Biden, followed by appearances on national media. However, one moment encapsulated the disconnect perfectly: Newsom being interviewed by CNN while the city burned in the background. What was likely meant to convey authority instead became a painfully symbolic display of Democratic incompetence.

“What is the situation with the water, obviously, in the Palisades?” Cooper asked. “It ran out last night. And the hydrants — I was talking to the firefighter on this block. They left because there was no water in the hydrant here.”

Newsom responded by putting the onus on local authorities.

“The local folks are trying to figure that out,” he said. “I mean, just when you have a system that’s not dissimilar to what we’ve seen in other extraordinarily large-scale fires, whether it be pipe electricity or whether it just be the complete overwhelm of the system. I mean, those hydrants are typical for two or three fires, maybe one fire. You have something at this scale — but again, that’s going to be determined by the local authorities.”

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The problem with him deflecting that issue to local authorities is that California has faced years of criticism over its insufficient wildfire prevention strategies and lackluster water storage infrastructure. In fact, Donald Trump has repeatedly highlighted California’s need for practical solutions, including building new reservoirs to bolster water storage. However, his proposals were consistently met with resistance from environmental groups and state officials, who prioritized ecological concerns over addressing the pressing risks to human safety.

Imagine being responsible for the state not having more resources to combat wildfires and having the audacity to say that it’s a problem for local authorities to work out. Shameful.

Related: How Wokeism Created the L.A. Wildfire Crisis

Newsom also whined to Cooper about Trump “politicizing” the crisis instead of offering real solutions. 

“I hate to even ask this question, but the President-elect chose to attack you, blame you for this,” Cooper asked Newsom.

”It’s — well, one can’t even respond to it,” Newsom said. “I mean, it’s — you know, people are literally fleeing. People have lost their lives. Kids lost their schools, families completely torn asunder, churches burned down. This guy want to politicize it.”

Newsom continued, “I have a lot of thoughts, and I know what I want to say. I won’t. I stood next to a president of the United States of America today, and I was proud to be with Joe Biden. And he had the backs of every single person in this community. He didn’t play politics, didn’t try to divide any of us.”

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Leave it to Newsom to accuse Trump of politicizing the wildfires and then gush over Joe Biden, who bizarrely thought it was appropriate to boast about becoming a great-grandfather at the end of a briefing with Newsom on the wildfires in Southern California.

“The good news is I’m a great-grandfather as of today,” Biden said.

Yeah, that’s going to make displaced Californians feel better.

In a CNN panel Wednesday evening, senior political commentator Scott Jennings destroyed the argument that criticizing the response to the wildfires was politicizing them.

“I keep hearing climate change all day,” Jennings said, “but nobody seems to want to take responsibility for the local governance that has led to some of the failures and the devastation that we’re seeing.” He noted that, while Democrats often frame these issues around climate change, it’s fair to question the policy decisions that have exacerbated the challenges.

Jennings also highlighted questionable budget decisions, noting that Los Angeles had recently cut about $17 million from the fire department. “People have questions about why that is,” he remarked, pushing back on the notion that raising these issues amounts to politicizing the crisis. “It’s not politicizing things to raise public policy questions when this devastation is occurring,” Jennings argued.

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And he’s absolutely right. If Newsom wanted to demonstrate real leadership, he wouldn’t sidestep these criticisms; he’d confront them head-on and explain why they’re unfounded. But he can’t. California is no stranger to wildfires, yet year after year, the state proves incapable of preventing and containing them. The pattern of mismanagement speaks for itself, and Newsom’s refusal to own up to these failures only underscores the problem. In four years, this record of failure will provide plenty of ammunition for his opponents to argue that he was a disastrous leader for California.