Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) spoke out on Friday about his “problem” with California’s policies, threatening to withhold disaster relief aid amid the devastating Los Angeles wildfires.
“If they want the money, then there should be consequences where they have to change their policies,” Davidson said in an interview with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo.
He subsequently clarified: “I mean, we support the people that are plagued by disaster but we have to put pressure on the California government to change course here.”
Moments earlier, Davidson declared that officials “need to address” the fires before criticizing the state’s forest management.
“All these things that they’re doing are making it far easier for fires to grow, spread, and be huge,” he said of the Los Angeles fires, which have killed at least 16 people and destroyed over 12,000 structures, with an estimated 57,000 more at risk.
Right-wing media figures have recently pushed misleading claims that California’s “bad forest management” is to blame for the fires, ignoring how climate change affects fire prevention measures, according to Media Matters for America.
The bad forest management talk appears to be a rehash of right-wing claims made in 2018, when then-President Donald Trump blamed California’s Camp Fire, the most destructive and deadly in the state’s history, on “poor” policies.
“Billions of dollars are given each year, and many lives are lost as a result of gross forest mismanagement. “Remedy now, or no more Federal payments!” Trump posted on social media at the time.
According to Media Matters, Fox News hosts later approved Trump’s comments.
In 2020, he’d again blame forest management for state fires, and he quickly gained support from conservative network personalities.
Davidson’s policy “problem” contributes to a right-wing blame game for the recent Los Angeles fires, which includes everything from diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives to — in Trump’s case — California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) wanting to protect the delta smelt, a “essentially worthless fish” species.
On Saturday, in an effort to combat “misinformation,” Newsom launched a page on his website to address the “lie” that the fires are caused by “mismanagement of forest lands.”
He claimed that the forest management budget “is now TEN TIMES larger” than it was when he took office in 2019.
Rep. Warren Davidson on California federal disaster relief: “If they want the money, then there should be consequences where they have to change their policies … CA wants the money without changing the policies that are making the problem worse & I don’t see how Rs could possibly support that.”
