Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Wednesday lashed out at President Trump for threatening to stop sending federal money to California to fight forest fires, saying the president’s words insult Americans who died in last year’s wildfires.
{mosads}“Trump’s threat insults the memory of scores of Americans who perished in wildfires last year & thousands more who lost their homes,” Pelosi said on Twitter.
“[House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)] must join me to condemn & call on POTUS to reassure millions in CA that our govt will be there for them in their time of need.”
Pelosi’s call came shortly after Trump argued that California’s damaging forest fires would “never happen” if its forests were managed properly.
He also said that he’s ordered “FEMA to send no more money” to the state.
“It is a disgraceful situation in lives & money!” Trump said.
Trump has previously threatened to withhold disaster funding from California for its wildfires. He’s argued that the state needs to fix flaws in its forest management practices to mitigate wildfires.
During a visit to the state last year he said that a country such as Finland prevents wildfires because they do a better job “raking and cleaning and doing things.”
Wildfires ravaged California in 2018, with the Camp Fire in the northern part of the state killing at least 85 people and destroying thousands of homes. It was the deadliest wildfire in the state’s history.
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) echoed Pelosi’s criticism on Wednesday, saying that “we should work together to mitigate these fires by combating climate change, not play politics by threatening to withhold money from survivors of a deadly natural disaster.”