(Julianna Frieman, Headline USA) Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, slammed the Democrat mayor of Los Angeles on Friday for a “deliberate decision” that kept California’s fires burning.
On his “Verdict with Ted Cruz” podcast, the senator took aim at Democrats pointing to climate change as the cause of the state’s fires. He suggested they take a look at their elected officials instead, such as Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
California Inferno—the Catastrophic Policy Decisions that are Making the Wildfires Much, Much Worse. @benfergusonshow and I break it all down on Verdict👇👇👇https://t.co/gMJG8Ndhxv
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 10, 2025
“Let me just say, for Democrat politicians, their answer to any crisis is they just say, climate change, climate change, climate change,” Cruz said. “Well, that doesn’t absolve the elected officials of the responsibility to put policies in place that keep people safe, and California consistently has put in place policies that make it the forest fires bigger, make them spread more quickly, make them harder to stop.”
Cruz noted that the Bass cutting the fire department’s budget by $17 million in spite of warnings rendered Californians helpless to fight the fires.
“Mayor Karen Bass was warned,” he said. “She was warned publicly and explicitly, and she slashed the budget anyway. That is a deliberate decision, and it’s a decision that, sadly, is having catastrophic consequences.”
WOW! You can actually see the exact moment Karen Bass realizes her political career is over…
Watch her stunned silence when she’s asked if she regrets cutting the LA fire department’s budget.
pic.twitter.com/wMxZ5iUNVf— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) January 8, 2025
“Why does the city slash $17 million from the fire department?” Cruz continued. “Particularly when the mayor is warned that this will limit our ability to fight wildfires? Well, look, there is a growing problem with radical left-wing politicians who prioritize their own political agenda over doing their damn job.”
The Texas senator identified Los Angeles’s wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars, which included a six-figure stroll through a transgender café and thousands toward a gay men’s chorus.
Wow the LA Mayor’s fire scandal gets worse
We all know she cut $17.5 million from the fire department budget, but now a leaked memo shows she wanted to cut nearly *triple* that amount
Over $49 million!!
Karen Bass needs to resign NOW pic.twitter.com/qemnQwJX1e
— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) January 10, 2025
“The same year, they slashed 17 million from the fire department, Los Angeles spent a $100,000 on the midnight stroll transgender café. They also spent money on $14,000 for the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, and $170,000 for, quote, ‘social justice art worker, investments,’” he said.
Cruz blasted Bass for prioritizing social justice over the safety of her constituents.
“So those are the priorities that the Democrat mayor has, rather than hiring firefighters to protect their citizens from the wildfires that are endangering their homes and their families,” the senator told his listeners.
“It is indefensible and it’s not like this was a surprise,” he added. “She was repeatedly warned, and she disregarded those warnings.”
Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer published by the Daily Caller, Headline USA, The Federalist, and the American Spectator. Follow her on Twitter at @JuliannaFrieman.
