Maxine Waters Faces Criticism Over Comments During CA Wildfires
In a Friday interview with NewsNation, Democratic Representative Maxine Waters, whose district includes Los Angeles, claimed she is not “playing politics” regarding the devastating wildfires sweeping through California, even as she pushed for higher taxes on “the rich.”
California residents already face some of the nation’s steepest tax rates, but Waters, a multimillionaire herself, justified her stance by saying, “services cost money.” She made these remarks while discussing wildfire resources with host Chris Cuomo.
“I’m not into the blame game. I’m not into talking about whether or not Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is trying to protect himself and run for president, none of that,” Waters told Cuomo.
“The first thing we’ve got to understand is, services cost money, and we should be willing to get the richest people in this country, the richest 1% that is protected, make sure they pay their fair taxes so that we can have the money to provide the services,” she explained.
She added, “With that money and with those resources, the people who have been selected or elected to do the job should do the job. I don’t care who it is. It could be Democrat, it could be Republican, it could be whatever. But the fact of the matter is, we all should have heavy hearts right now, but we should have faith and we should be on point by making sure that we do everything to help the people that need us.”
“Dammit, you can do the politics later. You can come and talk about Gavin Newsom later. You can talk about the Democrats later,” she insisted.
According to data from the Internal Revenue Service, the top 1% of taxpayers contribute nearly 41% of all federal income taxes. The top 5% pay over 65%, the top 10% pay 75%, and the top 25% account for 89%. In contrast, the bottom 50% of workers, earning less than $46,627 annually, contribute only 2% of federal personal income taxes, as noted in an October CBS Austin report.
Meanwhile, critics argue that policy missteps by Newsom, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, and others have worsened the wildfires' impact and fatalities.
When Vice President-elect JD Vance was asked on Sunday about President Trump’s controversial remarks during a September press conference in Los Angeles, he refuted claims that the administration planned to withhold emergency wildfire aid.
“We won’t give him money to put out all his fires,” Trump had said about Newsom. “And if we don’t give him the money to put out his fires, he’s got problems.”
Addressing these comments, Vance explained, “The goal is to make sure federal aid dollars are more efficiently delivered and spent. No, look, President Trump cares about all Americans, right? He is the president for all Americans. And I think that he intends to have FEMA and other federal responses much, much better and much more clued into what’s going on there on the ground.”
When asked about Newsom’s invitation for Trump to visit California, Vance responded, “I know the president would love to visit California,” adding, “Our hearts go out to those affected by these natural disasters.”
“Whatever your political affiliation, it’s hard not to see those images and just be heartbroken for our fellow Americans who are going through a very tough time,” Vance said.
He emphasized that the federal government must improve its disaster response. “President Trump is committed to doing a better job when it comes to disaster relief. That’s true for hurricane victims and flood victims in North Carolina. It’s true for fire victims in California. We just — we have to do a better job. We need competent, good governance.”
Vance concluded by noting that while Trump may criticize Newsom for “some very bad decisions over a very long period of time,” his focus remains on effective disaster management.