New aerial photos are showing the level of the devastation in Los Angeles, and it looks like there are just whole neighborhoods wiped off the map. The damage is already astronomical, and the fires are still roaring on.
What makes it worse is the Democratic leadership feels like it’s completely missing in action, with the responses that we’ve seen from people like Mayor Karen Bass and Governor Gavin Newsom.
Newsom even was confronted by a desperate woman who had lost her home, and he claimed he was on the phone with Joe Biden. Then he claimed he was trying to get a cell signal to reach him. I wonder if that was true, because depending on when that was shot, Biden was in a meeting with advisors.
READ MORE: New Aerial Photos From Palisades Fire Show Unfathomable Devastation
WATCH: Desperate Wildfire Victim Accosts Gavin Newsom, and He Does the Most Embarrassing Thing Ever
After Biden’s staffer huddle, he gave a press briefing on their response. He said it was the worst fires in Los Angeles “ever.” But Joe being Joe, he was a bit scrambled during the presser portion of the meeting. He was tripping over his words, and had trouble just getting out the phone number that people could call for assistance. if they’ve “lost anything of consequence.”
I’ll give him this much, he did better than Karen Bass did with just saying, “U R L.” At least he got something out; if you were not able to figure that number out, the website was clearer, “DisasterAssistance.gov.”
Then at one point, Biden turned to Harris to take over, noting that she was “directly affected.” So you “fire away,” Biden said, “No pun intended.” Kamala gave him a look as though she couldn’t believe he said that.
Yeah, Joe, inappropriate, not the time for puns. Don’t you have any sense left? I suppose that’s a rhetorical question with Joe at this point.
But he was right about her being “directly affected.” Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff’s home in Brentwood is under an evacuation order. Her press secretary said no one was currently in the home and they were praying for everyone involved. Biden said they were monitoring the situation, and offering federal assistance to those affected.
Biden said the federal government would cover 100 percent of the aid needed for 180 days, including “debris removal, temporary shelters, salaries for first responders and more.” He also declared it a major disaster, so people could “access funds and resources and he authorized use of federal firefighting responders. Unfortunately he said the winds were likely to continue into next week, which could hamper efforts to fight the fire.
He also reportedly cancelled the trip he had planned to Italy to seek “solace” from the Pope. Finally, he did something that wasn’t about himself, as many need real solace after significant loss in this disaster.
At this point over 28,000 acres have been affected and at least five people have been killed; Hundreds of thousands have been evacuated.
