Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville said Tuesday on Fox News that federal aid for the Southern California wildfires needs to have “stipulations,” detailing how President-elect Donald Trump’s administration is expected to handle the process.
Wildfires in Los Angeles County broke out on Jan. 7, ripping through the area, and it is believed it will cost the state more than $250 billion in damages. On “The Ingraham Angle,” host Laura Ingraham called out some corporate media defenses claiming that Republicans were politicizing the situation.
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“What a disaster, Laura. They have no governance there. They have no leadership. You see what’s going on in all these blue cities and blue states around the country, and they just got outed again in California,” Tuberville said. “They get outed every year of what they’ve done and what they’ve not done. Chuck Schumer, since I’ve been here, has been their sugar daddy.”
“He’s bailed them out with the CARES Act in 2021 — $30 million, $40 million, a billion dollars. He bailed them out because they’re dead broke. We turn around with the Inflation Reduction Act. We did the same thing a couple years ago. We bailed them out again. Folks, their sugar daddy’s gone,” Tuberville added.
Tuberville had told Newsmax on Monday that while he supported sending the money to the Democratic state, he clarified it wouldn’t “deserve” the aid if the leadership didn’t make some type of change. Both Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass have been heavily criticized for their leadership during the crisis, as well as the lack of preparation the state appeared to have prior to the wildfires.
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“Donald Trump is a new sheriff in town,” Tuberville added. “They have nobody to pay their bills. They’re going to have to go to Donald Trump and say we need your help and that’s fine.”
“We’ll help them, but there’s got to be some stipulations, Laura, on what we do, how we do it, when we do it, and what we’re going to get out of,” Tuberville said. “The American taxpayers are sick and tired of watching what’s going on out there with people that are stealing the money, no governance, and have no clue what they’re doing.”
Other congressional Republicans, such as House Speaker Mike Johnson, Wisconsin Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Mike Flood, have questioned the aid going to California due to its failed leadership, while others have called out the state’s issues, like its home insurance policies. However, not all are in favor of possible conditions on the state’s aid. Republican Reps. Rick Scott of Florida and Thom Tillis of North Carolina have publicly supported federal assistance to residents impacted by the wildfires.
“What’s gonna have to happen is the new EPA director that President Trump is going to bring in, he’s going to have to get involved,” Tuberville said. “He’s going to have to get involved in what’s going on in California. It’s obvious that these people have no clue whatsoever of what to do, how to do it, and so our new EPA director can get involved in this, put some stipulations down on how we’re going to help them, and, again, as you said, we need to help California. It is a beautiful state.”
“Unfortunately, a lot of that state don’t believe in all this blue madness, but we’re going to help everybody out. Unfortunately, the American taxpayers across the country are going to have to pay that. Even the people in North Carolina that are under devastation as we speak, in Hawaii as we speak. It’s just absolutely amazing,” Tuberville added.
Some residents of Altadena, Calif., whose homes were destroyed in the Eaton Canyon fire, which started in Pasadena, have filed lawsuits against Southern California Edison and Edison International over their alleged involvement in starting the fire. One lawsuit says that if the company had properly “de-energized all of its electrical equipment in the area” and ensured that flammable vegetation around its infrastructure was trimmed, the crisis may have been avoided.
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First published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.