Bill Maher blasts liberals protecting officials during LA fires


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Bill Maher recently criticized fellow liberals for defending politicians during the Los Angeles wildfire crisis. In a conversation with TMZ, the HBO late-night host emphasized the importance of holding government officials accountable rather than solely blaming climate change, though he acknowledged its significant role in the disaster.

“I’m with the people who want to hold politicians accountable. ‘We shouldn’t talk about it now.’ It’s so funny to hear that coming out of the mouths of liberals, because they hate it when conservatives say that after a gun tragedy, which is what conservatives always say after a mass shooting. ‘This is not the time to politicize it.’ And then it never is,” Maher stated.

He continued, “It is absolutely the time to talk about it. This is what my editorial Friday night on the show. Was it always going to be bad? Of course. Their arguments are not wrong. We built a city in a terrible place to build a city. Global warming absolutely does make hot stuff and weather worse. Winds were ridiculous. I get all that. And they also made a lot of errors.”

The comedian drew parallels between the current situation and past disasters, suggesting that if Democrats criticized President Bush for Hurricane Katrina, they should apply the same standard to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’s handling of the wildfires.

“If you held Bush accountable for Katrina and thought Rudy Giuliani was an idiot for putting the command center in the World Trade Center … Well, then you have to have some intellectual honesty in criticizing your team when they don’t do it right. I think we we should demand better,” he explained.

The controversy intensified when it was revealed that Mayor Bass was in Ghana during the outbreak of the fires. According to the Los Angeles Times, she was attending a cocktail party at the U.S. Embassy while the disaster unfolded, despite having received advance warning about the severe windstorm forecast.

Bass had departed for the West African nation on January 4 as part of a Biden administration delegation attending the inauguration of Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama. She returned to Los Angeles around 11 a.m. on January 8, more than a day after the fires began, even though the National Weather Service had issued intensified warnings about the impending windstorm.

Other comedic figures have taken different stances. Bill Burr expressed opposition to criticizing officials, stating, “This was definitely mismanaged.’ Mismanaged, like, some fucking idiot on the internet knows how to manage the worst fire in L.A., sitting there in his underwear… [saying in an exaggerated voice] You know what? Looking at the footage on the internet, I have determined that this here was mismanaged.”

Jon Stewart has similarly advocated against calling out politicians during this period.

 

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