Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, owner of the Los Angeles Times, accused American voters of “I told you so” over the response of elected leaders to the Los Angeles area wildfires.
Soon-Shiong criticized the incompetence of local officials, writing on X that their handling of the crisis proves exactly why voters should not elect leaders based on party affiliation.
“Perhaps the lesson we learned from this disaster in California is that from now on we will vote not based on left or right, D or R, but perhaps on whether we are competent or experienced in running the job. That’s what it means!!” Entrepreneur written from his account on Thursday.
“We have to select based on merit… yes, merit matters,” he added.
California wildfires: Essential phone numbers for Los Angeles area residents and how to help them
Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, owner of the Los Angeles Times, said the ongoing Los Angeles wildfire crisis proves that voters should elect leaders based on merit, not party affiliation. . ((Patrick T. Fallon/AFP | Marco Tacca/Getty Images | Fox News Digital))
Mr. Soon-Shiong has made waves in recent months by highlighting the partisan stupidity of American politics. His views motivated the paper to mandate that it not endorse candidates in the 2024 presidential election, a move that upset the station's liberal-leaning staff and viewers.
The owner also announced the creation of a new, more impartial editorial board for the paper, among other measures it proposed to prevent the paper from becoming an “echo chamber for one side”.
Soon-Shiong said his goal is to make the paper a “mid-sized and trusted news source.”
The owners' insistence on being nonpartisan is reflected in recent criticism of the leaders in California and Los Angeles, saying that they are too focused on choosing leaders based on partisanship and that they are unable to handle the crisis themselves. He stressed that the bushfire disaster has proven that we can't focus on knowing whether we can do it or not. crisis.
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Firefighters battle the Kenneth Fire in the West Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles on Thursday, January 9, 2025. (Ethan Swope/Associated Press)
Soon-Shiong made clear earlier this week that he believes the state's Democratic leadership is incompetent.
In a post on X on Wednesday, he said, “My heart goes out to those who have lost their homes and are seeking shelter. The fires in LA are sadly not surprising, but the Mayor cut the budget by $23 million. And reports that “empty fire hydrants raise serious questions about capacity…''
City officials cut LAFD funding by $17 million last year, although Bass' original budget proposal aimed for a $23 million cut.
“Today's 'false' alarm warning to evacuate across Los Angeles County is yet another example of California leadership's incompetence,” he wrote in a follow-up post Thursday.
Soon-Shiong appeared to be referring to a false mass evacuation warning for all of Los Angeles County that was issued just before 4pm PT on Thursday, but was quickly rescinded.
A later alert to county residents read, “Please ignore the last evacuation warning. It was for the Kenneth Fire only,” referring to residents who live near the scene of the Kenneth Fire in Calabasas and Agoura Hills.
Local officials claimed the false evacuation order was a “technical error.”
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