Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie slammed California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other leaders for their lack of wildfire preparedness, calling the response an “enormous failure” as thousands of structures were destroyed and at least 24 people lost their lives across Los Angeles County.
Christie called out Newsom for refusing to take accountability for the crisis during “The Brian Kilmeade Show,” accusing him, and local leaders, of mismanaging the state’s response to the historic fires.
“It’s an enormous failure, Brian, and an enormous disappointment for the people of California and now a tragedy for all those families that have been affected,” Christie told Kilmeade on Monday. “And when you’re the governor of a state and a natural disaster happens, there is no one more accountable than you. There can be no one who the public is relying upon more than you.”
“You can’t sit there and say, ‘Jeez… I don’t know. Let me find out.’ You have to be on top of it right from the beginning,” he continued. “These fires started. We knew they were coming. We knew they were expanding.”
Both the Eaton and Palisades fires started on Tuesday last week and have so far burned nearly 40,000 acres combined. The Eaton fire, which is centered around Pasadena, has caused 16 deaths, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner says. The Palisades fire has claimed eight additional lives, and both fires remain largely uncontained as of Monday morning.
Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass have faced fierce criticism since the fires began last week for their handling of the catastrophe, with many arguing they were not properly prepared as entire communities turned to ash.