We are two years into the Trump presidency, and we still have yet to hit rock bottom on Donald Trump’s cruel, thoughtless and inhumane behavior. In the wake of the devastating wildfires currently ravaging California that have left at least nine people dead and destroyed more than 6,000 homes, the president has not responded with any support. He hasn’t even deigned to offer up a “thoughts and prayers”. Instead, he tweets this:
There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 10, 2018
Let’s be honest: if this kind of natural disaster were happening anywhere else in the country, the response would be wildly different. But because California is a “liberal enclave” that’s rejected everything this administration stands for, Trump is treating it with dismissal and contempt. In addition to his sociopathic lack of empathy, Trump seems ignorant of his role in the situation. The president, who thinks climate change is a hoax, is responsible for slashing funding for forest management, at a time when federal parks and lands are more vulnerable than ever.
Politicians and celebrities on social media were quick to respond to Trump’s tweet, as they often are:
Trump slashed federal funding for forest management in California and now blames the state for its own wildfires. He’s also, you know, threatening to withhold even more federal funds as people, homes, and animals are literally being burned alive. At least 9 people are dead. pic.twitter.com/j7MwruPo1J
— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) November 10, 2018
Dear @realDonaldTrump: What is wrong with you? Disaster victims deserve help & sympathy.
Oh, and guess who owns much of the forest land in CA? Your federal agencies. CA only owns 2%. Guess who cut funding to forest management in the budget? YOU DID.#SaturdayMorning Thoughts https://t.co/Es9oAOhQQc
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) November 10, 2018
This man is demented. Never stop saying it. https://t.co/EmjA7gLoVA
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) November 10, 2018
This is an absolutely heartless response. There aren’t even politics involved. Just good American families losing their homes as you tweet, evacuating into shelters. https://t.co/DJ4PN26bLZ
— KATY PERRY (@katyperry) November 10, 2018
Piss off, ghost. https://t.co/HXQfg6K8d3
— Taika Waititi (@TaikaWaititi) November 10, 2018
People died in a fire and he’s on the side of the fire https://t.co/w78sGqak6O
— Jess Dweck (@TheDweck) November 10, 2018
As fires burn, as families and lives are upended, the last thing we need is the president criticizing our state. Just get us the help we need. Do it now.
— Maria Shriver (@mariashriver) November 10, 2018
Trump is tweeting from a Paris hotel room, where he is holed up after skipping a memorial in a U.S. cemetery in Compiegne on the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day. His reason? It was a little bit rainy. 2020 can’t come soon enough.
(via ABC News, image: David McNew/Getty Images)
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