Actor Mel Gibson and podcaster Joe Rogan have accused California Governor Gavin Newsom of being unprepared to deal with the wildfires ravaging Los Angeles.
The 69-year-old “The Patriot” actor appeared on “.joe rogan experience” Thursday, and the two were quick to point out that while the Golden State has spent billions of taxpayer money fighting homelessness, the state has spent “significant amounts” on measures that could help prevent wildfires. did.
“We were just talking about the wildfire situation and how crazy is it that they spent $24 billion on homelessness last year, and what did they spend on preventing wildfires? ” asked Logan, 57.
“Zero,” Gibson replied. “Zip.”
The “Braveheart” star then criticized Newsom for not doing what he said he would do when he first took office: help prevent wildfires.
“I think in 2019 Newsom said, 'I'm going to take care of the forests and maintain the forests,' and all that kind of stuff,” Gibson said. “He didn't do anything.”
“Plus, they turned off the water,” Logan added, alluding to reports that California firefighters are running out of water while battling the inferno raging across the region.
“I think all our tax money probably went to Gavin's hair gel,” the actor joked. “…It's sad. The place is just on fire.”
Afterwards, the two argued bitterly about how “poorly managed” California is and how its leadership is “frustrating and chaotic.”
Logan criticized California's 40th governor for past television appearances that reinforced the idea that California is the “best” state in the country with a “great economy.”
“You're losing your mind, dude. You've messed this up. You've messed it up personally,” the UFC commentator said.
At the beginning of the interview, Gibson mentioned that his son Milo is a member of Malibu's volunteer fire department. According to Gibson, he told his father that there was a fire in the actor's neighborhood and sent him a video of the inferno near his home.
Logan then asked the “Passion of the Christ” director if the big fires were what ultimately led him to leave California, like when Logan himself moved to Austin, Texas, in 2020. In the middle of a pandemic.
“Yeah, maybe,” Gibson said, adding that he has a home in Costa Rica.
Newsom pledged in 2019 to reform California's approach to wildfire prevention, saying the state's response to the frequently occurring problem needs to “fundamentally” change.
However, in 2021 NPR investigation It turns out the governor was exaggerating his efforts.
Reporter Scott Rodd wrote in 2021 that “an investigation found that the very forestry projects that Newsom said needed to be prioritized to protect the state's most vulnerable communities'' were treated with fuel interruptions and prescribed burning. It turns out that the number of acres reported was overstated by an astonishing 690%.” .
“Newsom claimed 90,000 acres of fire protection work has been done as a result of 35 'priority projects' carried out as a result of his executive order. But the actual number is 11,399, according to the state's own data. ”
The state disputed the report, saying the pandemic “combined an unprecedented wildfire season and shifted already strained wildfire crews away from prevention and firefighting” efforts to prevent wildfires. said that it was hindered.
“The idea that the Newsom administration is using money or actions to roll back the wildfire response is completely inaccurate,” the governor's office said after the study was released.
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) total funding for fire protection, resource management, and protection was estimated at $3.7 billion in 2021-2022. state.
California has spent about $24 billion to fight homelessness since 2019. Hoover Institution Reported in July.
However, the report states that during that five-year period, “homelessness increased by approximately 30,000 people to more than 181,000,” with an estimated 10,000 people across California becoming homeless from 2022 to 2023.
