How outlets left and right covered the Los Angeles wildfires

As deadly wildfires raged across Southern California this week, conservative and liberal media alike reported on the extent of the damage caused. But they found that the causes were very different.

Right-wing media blamed much of the devastation on Democrats. They attacked California's political leadership, which is heavily Democratic. They also blamed diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in Los Angeles for the destruction.

Liberal news outlets criticized President-elect Donald J. Trump's response to the fire as insensitive. Some believe climate change is to blame for the increased severity of fires.

The fire has killed at least five people so far, but the sheriff says the exact death toll is unknown at this time, and the fire has burned 27,000 acres in Los Angeles and killed about 180,000 people. They were forced to evacuate.

Here's how some media outlets are covering this news:

from the right

Breitbart

Conservative media outlets have blamed the fire on the incompetence of California's elected Democrats, including Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. Basu was in Ghana as part of a delegation to inaugurate the new president at the time of the fire, a fact that angered some voters.

On Thursday, the conservative website Breitbart published at least six headlines criticizing Ms. Bass on its homepage, including that she was missing in action “in Africa while cities burned.” It also included references to what had become. Another woman claimed she was “aware of the fire risks” before leaving for Ghana.

“What does the mayor of Los Angeles have to do with Ghana?” Breitbart editor-in-chief Alex Marlowe said on “The Alex Marlowe Show” on Wednesday. Marlowe also claimed that the Los Angeles Fire Department was focused on hiring diverse candidates rather than fire preparedness.

At a news conference Thursday, Bass dismissed questions about his leadership, saying he was now focused on saving lives.

Ryan Saavedra, a reporter for the conservative news and opinion site Daily Wire, said the city's fire chief Kristin Crowley's December budget cuts have “significantly limited” the city's ability to fight wildfires. I wrote about the warning.

Los Angeles authorities said there were not enough firefighters to extinguish the blaze. Matt Walsh, a conservative blogger who hosts the site's “Matt Walsh Show,” said the staffing issue is a key issue in improving diversity, equity and inclusion, often referred to by the acronym DEI. He blamed the department's efforts. Several right-wing influencers blamed the program for efforts to suppress fires, suggesting the fire department's documents highlighted old issues, suggested it was interested in increasing the diversity of firefighters and personnel, and blamed the program. he accused.

“DEI is a cancer that destroys everything it touches,” he wrote in a post about X.

From the left

MSNBC

Liberal news network MSNBC is covering ground fires in Los Angeles and providing live updates from reporters.

NBC News correspondent Dana Griffin walked through the destroyed area on Thursday's “Morning Joe” and said, “The embers from hurricane-force winds look like they're playing hopscotch against cars and homes.” It was something,” he said.

Others on the network criticized Trump's angry response to the fire. He called California Gov. Gavin Newsom “incompetent” and blamed him for the disaster, and questioned some of the governor's past policies on water and fish.

Alex Wagner, host of MSNBC's “Alex Wagner Tonight,” said it was “impossible” to ask Trump to lead on “the climate challenges we face as a country and as a planet.” “It seems like that,” he said, reacting to Trump's remarks. President Trump's comments.

MSNBC Newsletter Editor Ryan Teague Beckwith said in an op-ed published Thursday that Trump's response was a “serious misunderstanding of his claims.” Teague-Beckwith claimed the fires were caused by a combination of “drought, extreme winds” and city planning decisions, rather than water or fish supplies.

Trump's “first instinct was to blame his political opponents, raise irrelevant issues, and misinform everyone about basic facts,” he wrote.

Writing for Salon, a liberal online news and commentary site, Daria Solovieva, the site's money editor, wrote that the wildfires show Americans are “unprepared for climate change.” Ta.

Solovieva, who is based in Los Angeles, also said it was “unrealistic” to see wealthy areas like Los Angeles struggle to find enough firefighters to put out the fires. He pointed out that this is the “new normal.”

“Scientists have been predicting these deadly situations for decades,” Solovieva wrote. “We are all on the verge of becoming displaced after just one weather disaster,” she added.