What if the firefighters’ difficulties in putting out the fires ravaging Los Angeles were linked to the war in Ukraine? This is the connection made by Donald Trump Jr on the social network January the eldest son of Donald Trump.
Donald Trump Jr was referring to a donation made in March 2022, a month after Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, by California firefighters. They then donated hoses, helmets, protective vests and other personal protective equipment. This equipment was “surplus”, the firefighters clarified at the time. The Los Angeles firefighters were not the only ones to support their Ukrainian counterparts at the time: firefighters from across the country also showed solidarity. It is therefore not this gift which causes the difficulties in controlling fires, which are fanned by violent winds, the presence of vegetation in the hills and in residential areas and drought.
Critiques d’Elon Musk
Far from stopping at this exaggeration, Republicans and supporters of Donald Trump also questioned the skills of the Los Angeles fire chief, a woman with twenty-two years of experience as a firefighter and openly LGBT. Billionaire Elon Musk, who shows his support for Donald Trump, attacked the firefighters’ diversity and inclusion policy, reposting a message from the Lib of TikTok account, which regularly posts messages against transgender people. “They prioritized DEI [politique de diversité, d’équité et d’inclusion] rather than saving lives and homes.”
The billionaire was joined by Donald Trump Jr, who suggested renaming the diversity and inclusion policy, DIE in English, “DIE”, or “die” in English.
Charges dismissed
Accusations rejected by Mike Beasley, chairman of the board of directors of Firefighters United for Safety Ethics and Ecology. “I give them barely more credibility than the theories about Jewish space lasers,” he told NPR, American public radio. “No fire agency will sacrifice training, fire control and fundamental operations for the benefit of DEI training,” he added.
The Democratic governor of California, Gavin Newsom, and the Democratic mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, are also under attack from supporters of Donald Trump. The mayor suffered criticism for having been absent at the start of the fires. She was then on an official trip to Ghana and returned on Tuesday January 7, when the fire in the Pacific Palisades district had already been declared. She left on Sunday, just as the U.S. Weather Service began warning about a storm, recalls the Los Angeles Times. A trip which led to her being described as “totally incompetent”. Karen Bass defended herself by saying she had remained in contact throughout her trip with the services handling the fire.
Where does this document cited by Donald Trump come from?
Donald Trump, for his part, attacked the governor on his Truth social network: “Governor Gavin Newscum [un jeu de mots insultant sur le nom de famille du gouverneur] refused to sign the water restoration declaration presented to him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and melting snow in the North, to flow flow daily in many areas of California, including areas currently burning in a near-apocalyptic manner.”
An accusation denied by the governor’s press service, which argues that such a “restoration declaration” does not exist. The BBC also looked for proof of the existence of such a document, but found none.
The governor invited Donald Trump to come and see for himself the scale and damage caused by the fires, which have so far killed 24 people and destroyed more than 12,000 buildings. According to information from NBC, the Republican’s team is “in discussions” to organize a trip. Would this take place before or after January 20, the date on which Donald Trump is to be inaugurated president?
