Conservative Columnist Drops The Hammer on Trump Politicizing LA Fires: ‘This Is Not That Moment!’
Conservative columnist Charlie Sykes joined MSNBC’s Alex Wagner this week to discuss President-elect Donald Trump’s reaction to the ongoing fires in and around Los Angeles.
“Charlie, first of all, I mean, what’s your reaction to the situation as we go through these horrifying images of destruction and despair, a major American city being laid waste by these unmanageable fires and this is the incoming president’s reaction,” Wagner said after highlighting Trump’s heated attacks on President Joe Biden and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).
“Well, I mean, it’s a catastrophe of a global magnitude. And in this day, in a human tragedy, it’s hard to get your head around, you know, and there will be a time to go, you know, to, you know, assess responsibility, to ask questions about why are the firefighters not getting water. But this is not that moment!” Sykes began, adding:
You know, it’s you know, people may think that this is normal, but there once was a time, actually, that I and I’m old enough to remember when a disaster like this would bring out the best in Americans. When we would pull together, we would say, you know, let’s put partisan politics aside for the moment and let’s assure the people of Southern California that this country has their back, that we are united, we will do whatever it takes. Donald Trump does not have that instinct.
He just won the presidency. He is about to assume the presidency. And yet his first instinct is to lash out, is to politicize, is to make up declarations that didn’t exist. To use juvenile nicknames for the governor of California.
I guess the juxtaposition of the seriousness of the tragedy and the unseriousness and the demagoguery of Donald Trump, you know, should be breathtaking, except we’ve seen this. But for anyone who thinks that he has been sobered by his, you know, his return to power or that he will grow into office, you know, this is his first instinct is is to lash out and to score points and to see this through the crudest political lens.
And this is who Donald Trump is. And I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised. The problem is how will this translate into his presidency? How will this translate into the way the federal government deals with these disasters in the future? Because we’ve had some troubling indications from the past.
Watch the clip above via MSNBC.
