We all know people who aren’t great in a crisis. They lose their cool at the first sign of trouble or become paralyzed when things get frightening. That’s human nature, though. That’s instinct: fight, flight, freeze.
When it comes to our leaders, however, we expect them to be cool in a crisis while simultaneously having the skill to keep us calm. They need to be able to reassure us, lead all of us during our worst moments, and get us through it in one piece. We must be able to count on and trust them when we are facing the kind of crisis currently unfolding in California.
On Tuesday, as you know, fires broke out in several areas across Los Angeles county. Many of these fires continue to rage out of control.
At least 11 people have lost their lives, and at least 13 are missing; over 12,000 structures have been damaged and 153,000 people are still under evacuation orders.
Meteorologists say the blaze in Pacific Palisades, which continues to spread, will have to burn to the ocean. Due to the combination of fierce winds and excessively dry conditions, firefighters will not be able to stop it without the assistance of the Pacific Ocean.
Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley stated Thursday morning, “ We are absolutely not out of danger yet.”
Unfortunately for us, one of the people who has been most vocal, and least useful, during this ongoing tragedy—Donald Trump—is terrible in a crisis. By that, I don’t mean he doesn’t handle crises well (although this is undoubtedly true), I mean he exploits tragedies for his own ends, making things worse for the rest of us in the process.
While a significant portion of our most populous state is literally on fire, conspiracists and purveyors of disinformation on the far right—and let’s be honest, they’re always on the right—are following Donald’s lead by politicizing the disaster.
Instead of rallying support and taking action to aid his fellow Americans, Donald is using his considerable platform to attack his perceived political enemies and stoke division.
Donald’s first responses to the ongoing devastation, was to publish a series of rage posts aimed at Gavin Newsom:
“One of the best and most beautiful parts of the United States of America is burning down to the ground. It’s ashes, and Gavin Newscum should resign. This is all his fault!!!”
And then Donald claimed that Newsom “refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snow melt from the North, to flow daily into many parts of California, including the areas that are currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way.”
“I will demand that this incompetent governor allow beautiful, clean, fresh water to FLOW INTO CALIFORNIA! He is the blame for this. On top of it all, no water for fire hydrants, not firefighting planes.”
Because of these reckless lies, Governor Newsom’s office had to take to Twitter to clarify that Donald’s claims are “pure fiction.” For example, the so-called water restoration declaration does not exist.
During an appearance on CNN, Daniel Dale mentioned a conversation he had with Jeffrey Mount, an expert on water policy, who verified that nothing Donald has been saying about the Los Angeles wildfires—what caused them and how they are being handled—is true. Dale said that Donald’s comments about the fires contain, “A staggering quantity of wrongness,” which seems an accurate description of Donald Trump’s entire life.]
During an interview on with Gov. Newson, Anderson Cooper asked Governor Newsom to respond to Donald’s rants, even as the fires raged.
Look at that backdrop, and consider how grotesque it is that Newsom, who is trying to manage an unfathomable tragedy impacting the lives of hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Californians, had to divert any of his energy to pushback against Donald’s slander.
One of the most frustrating things about all of this is that none of it is surprising—Donald is no longer an unknown quantity. After four years of his first administration, we are all too familiar with the sort of chaos he brings to already fraught situations. He has, in fact, a long, sordid history of making things worse.
There were quite a few natural disasters between 2017 and 2021 that gave Donald the opportunity to demonstrated his unique combination of ignorance, indifference, and cruelty.
2017: Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico. This was the first time many Americans got to see just how useless he was in an emergency. Worse, he also revealed his jaw-dropping lack of empathy.
2019: Hurricane Dorian descended upon the southeast. As it approached the east coast, Donald tweeted that Dorian was heading toward Alabama. It was not. The National Weather Service, whose job it is to inform the American people about weather-related emergencies, corrected him, tweeting, “Alabama will not see any impacts from Dorian.”
Oh, the audacity.
Donald did not handle this well because he is absolutely incapable of admitting he's wrong. In a fit of ego-driven stupidity, he took a Sharpie and altered a map of the hurricane’s path to include Alabama.
2020: Covid. For the first time in modern history, the leader of the United States of America, used a global crisis in the form of a pandemic to pit American states against each other. Then he divided American citizens against each other. He politicized wearing masks, the most simple and effective way to contain the spread of the virus. Then refused to take the crisis seriously.
Because of his inaction, and his inability to course correct, and his inability to give a shit about other human beings, hundreds of thousands of Americans died needlessly. Every day in January, 2021, we lost more Americans than we had on September 11th, 2001.
The Covid pandemic should have been an opportunity to unite the American people. Instead, it was one of the most divisive periods in our history and those divisions have only worsened over time.
2023: Tropical Storm Ophelia devastated parts of North Carolina bringing massive amounts of rainfall which caused storm surges and unprecedented flooding. Donald was out of power, but as a presidential candidate, he continued to have a platform from which to spread disinformation. He had a significant impact on the public's perception of the government’s disaster response and negatively influenced the ways in which victims understood the efforts of the Biden administration, in general and FEMA, in particular.
We've seen the real world consequences of what happens when Donald is in charge during a crisis. He’s withheld disaster aid from states whose governors didn’t pay him sufficient obeisance; he’s diverted resources away from first responders; he’s repeatedly failed communities in crisis, and he’s often made recommendations based on pseudo-science that have made everything worse. (He actually recommended detonating a nuclear warhead in the eye of a hurricane in 2020.)
What we can expect, because we've seen time and time again: If you need help in a crisis, but you do not kiss Donald’s ass sufficiently, he will not help you. He will use the crisis to perpetuate misinformation and conspiracy theories which will lead to a greater loss of life. He will blame the victims. He will divide us against each other. That is the playbook.
Due to climate change, natural disasters now occur with greater frequency; the intensity and destructive power of hurricanes and wildfires are increasing.
One of the reasons we're here is because there has been a drive, even by people who should know better, to bury the past. We need to be prepared, and the best way to do that is to remember what has already happened.
It isn’t only worsening natural disasters we need to worry about—bird flu is on the rise again. As of now, according to the Centers for Disease Control, there have been 66 confirmed human cases of H5N1 bird flu. The first confirmed death was announced this week in Louisiana.
With Donald’s nomination of Robert Kennedy to head of the Department of Health and Human Services, this puts us at increasing risk. Kennedy is a notorious leader of the anti-vax movement.
I don’t have any idea what he gets out of spreading lies, but he's an environmental attorney. He's not a doctor, he's not an immunologist, he's not a virologist. He's not a scientist of any kind. Nobody should be listening to Kennedy about anything related to vaccines or disease or human health.
I do know what Donald gets out of stirring up chaos and division during those times when we need unity. Division benefits him, even if, or maybe especially if it's at the expense of the rest of us. Division wears us down, even as it leaves him unaltered. I actually think it energizes him.
We know what's coming and we know how to combat what’s headed our way: stick together—don’t let anybody tell you that the best way for you to survive in a crisis is to stop caring about other people.
Remember, it was during Covid that Donald found the most effective way to tear us apart—he politicized a disease that should have been our common enemy. It didn't matter to him that the result of his malicious actions and inactions during the terrifying period between March 2020 and January 2021 ended up killing hundreds of thousands of Americans. Because what was true then, what has always been true, and will always be true is that if Donald Trump can in any way profit from your death, he will facilitate it, and then he will ignore the fact that you died.
At a press conference in Southern California, the FEMA Regional Administrator informed those affected that they can register for assistance these ways:
If you are out there, please stay safe. And, if you are able, please support the following:
CALIFORNIA FIRE FOUNDATION: Provides support to families of firefighters
PASADENA HUMANE SOCIETY: Helps with pet evacuations in the Los Angeles area
AMERICAN RED CROSS OF GREATER LOS ANGELES: Shelter, food, water, health and mental health services for evacuees
WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN: Provides food and water to first responders and evacuees
Thank you. And please stay safe.
