Attempting to pin the spread of wildfires across the state on President Trump, California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) said on Wednesday that National Guard members had been diverted from firefighting duties to quell rioting.
Although Newsom was still in the process of requesting $40 billion in federal relief funds for California in the upcoming congressional spending bill, which would require Trump's signature following its passage by a Republican majority, the accusation flowed from the Democrat like he had nothing to lose.
Eight separate wildfires are raging across California at the moment, forcing residents to evacuate areas close to San Diego and Sacramento, as Breitbart News reported.
A statement from Newsom’s office said outlined the state executive office's concerns when he said, "As multiple fires burn across the state today, a critical firefighting resource is short-staffed due to President Trump’s illegal federalization of California’s National Guard troops.
"CAL FIRE crews responding to the Monte Fire in San Diego have had to fill in gaps left by a California National Guard (CalGuard) Joint Task Force Rattlesnake team that is understaffed due to the federalization of some of its members."
Where the presidential fault comes in is as yet to be seen, but Newsom went on to say that his group, "Task Force Rattlesnake," is made up of around 300 California National Guard members, who worked under CAL FIRE to prevent the fires.
Then the governor got to the heart of the issue when he asserted that, "More than half of that team has been diverted to Los Angeles as part of President Trump’s illegal federalization of the Guard."
The Ninth Circuit may soon rule that what the governor's office calls "illegal" is actually quite legal.
The three-judge panel, which included an appointee of President Joe Biden, "sharply questioned Newsom's argument that Trump had failed to sufficiently justify his decision to send 4,000 National Guard troops to protect federal buildings and support immigration authorities as they conduct arrests and enforcement operations," according to Politico's Thursday report.
After rioters assaulted local police and federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, Newsom refused to assign blame. Additionally, he sidestepped the issue of his administration's long-standing inability to clear brush from forests.
It was only after the terrible Los Angeles flames earlier this year that Newsom authorized $50 million to be spent on legal challenges against future Trump initiatives, despite the fact that turning down the funds will equate to a ] fiscal shortfall of $10–$20 billion in California.
But this isn't exactly a new issue; the wildfires actually started while President Biden was in Los Angeles.
Biden diverted police resources from their possible role as evacuation guides, as pointed out by multiple news sites at the time.
On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that Trump hinted that his reluctance to provide Newsom the $40 billion he is requesting could be attributed to Newsom's actions: “[H]atred is never a good thing in politics.” “[H]atred is never a good thing in politics.”
