House Democrat Confronts Trump For Saying He’d Make Wildfire Relief Conditional: ‘Don’t Punish’

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) confronted President Donald Trump at a Friday evening press conference in Pacific Palisades about making federal aid for wildfire-stricken Californians conditional.

Sherman said he would hope that if a majority-Republican state were suffering from a natural disaster, he would hate to see their federal aid contingent on whether most of their voters supported abortion.

On Friday morning, Trump said he would open up the government’s checkbook if California agreed to store more water and implement voter ID laws. After Trump toured the devastation of the deadly Palisades fire, he sat down with First Lady Melania Trump, local government officials, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, and several other local officials.

After a lengthy statement in which he pledged aid, Trump asked those in the room if they had any questions or “political statements.” Sherman replied:

Mr. President, thank you for coming to the 32nd Congressional District. Most people don’t have adequate insurance because they couldn’t get it. One company dropped 600 policies just in the last six months. We’ve got 16 times as much property damage here as from Hawaii. And I’m hoping that we get at least 16 times the federal appropriation for the CDBG program that helps people rebuild. And I know you’ve talked about policies of California that you’re not a fan of, but I’ve been in Congress for 28 years.

I really disagree with Louisiana on their abortion policy. I disagree with them on their campaign finance policy. I disagree with North Dakota on their gun policy. And I would never turn to somebody from Louisiana and say, you keep living on your cousin’s couch because we’re not going to help you rebuild until Louisiana agrees with me on a woman’s right to choose. So I’m hoping that we can get these funds and that we don’t punish individuals for the policies of their state. You can disagree with them, and I think you’ve got some ideas. I look forward to us listening. Also on tariffs, I often agree with you on tariffs, but how about no tariffs on building materials for the next three years?

In response to Sherman’s comment on tariffs for construction materials, Trump replied, “Well, we’ll take a look at that, actually.”

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