Bill Maher isn’t giving California’s Democrat leadership a free pass for failures that contributed to the devastating wildfires that have destroyed thousands of homes near Los Angeles, many of them belonging to his fellow celebrities.
The comic and social critic called out liberals who are running cover for LA Mayor Karen Bass and Governor Gavin Newsom by insisting that “we shouldn’t talk about it now,” when it comes to accountability, suggesting that they are hypocrites in an interview with showbiz news outlet TMZ.
“I’m with the people who want to hold politicians accountable,” Maher said.
“It’s so funny to hear that coming out of the mouths of liberals because they hate it when conservatives say that after a gun tragedy, which is what conservatives always say after a mass shooting. ‘This is not the time to politicize it.’ And then it never is,” the old-school liberal added. “It is absolutely the time to talk about it.”
While he did give credence to some of the excuses, like the blaming of climate change and the wind, Maher wasn’t letting leadership off the hook for their screw-ups.
“Was it always going to be bad? Of course,” he said. “Their arguments are not wrong. We built the city in a terrible place to build a city. Global warming absolutely does make hot stuff and weather worse. Winds were ridiculous. Yeah, I get all that. And they also made a lot of errors.”
Maher also took a trip down memory lane by recalling how liberals savaged then-President George W. Bush for Hurricane Katrina, the monster storm that hit New Orleans in 2005, causing the flooding of large parts of the city when flood protection systems failed.
“If you held Bush accountable for Katrina” then “you have to have some intellectual honesty in criticizing your team when they don’t do it right. And they’ve had a long time to get this right-er,” he said, adding. “I think we should demand better.”
Maher didn’t let up in his criticism of local leaders, scorching the fire response in the “New Rules” segment of his popular HBO show “Real Time With Bill Maher” on Friday.
“We may not be able to do much about the weather, but we do need a better plan for putting out a burning city than waiting for rain,” he began.
We may not be able to do much about the weather, but we do need a better plan for putting out a burning city than waiting for rain. pic.twitter.com/6NXIAqHhIy
— Bill Maher (@billmaher) January 18, 2025
“A lot of Democrats in this one-party state this week went right to ‘don’t blame politicians. You can’t do anything about the wind,’ which is exactly half true. The wind part. Yes, fire is a tough fight out here,” he said. “And yes, global warming absolutely makes it worse, but that’s largely out of our control. What are we going to do? Pass a ballot measure to make sure Chinese stop burning coal?”
“It’s also, yes, undeniably true that LA is built in a stupid place to build a city, but when it’s not on fire, it’s really quite lovely, and it’s my home and stupid as its origin may be, it’s not going anywhere,” Maher continued. “Axios ran a story on how getting the water out of the hydrants in Pacific Palisades was more complicated than it seems. I’m sure it is. I’m sure it’s very complicated. That’s why I pay 13 percent of my income in the state every year to people who I assumed were working on things like this.”
He also criticized Newsom and branded Bass as “the Nero of American politics,” for her trip to Africa before the fires broke out, despite warnings about the severity of conditions that were ripe for wildfires.
“California is the place that spends money and gets nothing, which is why you may have noticed when the fires broke out, no one escaped by high-speed rail,” he added. “We have the highest marginal tax rate in America, higher than almost all other states, and soon Greenland. What is included for that? Breadsticks? Because it clearly doesn’t cover fire.”
“That’s government’s job: Protect us from crime, violence, theft, fire. I’m not saying Alabama would have done better with fires by fighting them with prayer in school, but look me in the eye and tell me anyone could have done worse. We just got our ass kicked by fire, something Neanderthals fought to a tie,” he continued. “The good news is our fire chief is a lesbian.”
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