Republican Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida has accused reporters of showing favoritism toward Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom of California despite his handling of the recent wildfires ravaging the Los Angeles area. The remarks came Thursday evening during a press conference, as DeSantis was asked about President-elect Donald Trump’s criticism of Newsom’s response to the deadly wildfires.
The wildfires, which have devastated parts of Los Angeles and its surrounding areas, have caused widespread destruction, with hundreds of homes lost and at least five fatalities. As the crisis unfolded, Trump weighed in with harsh criticism of Newsom, accusing the governor of mismanaging water resources and hindering wildfire preparations.
Trump has frequently criticized Newsom for allegedly prioritizing environmental concerns, such as protecting the delta smelt, a small endangered fish species, over securing the water necessary to prevent and fight wildfires.
However, it was DeSantis’s reaction to media coverage that dominated the press briefing. He suggested that reporters were not holding Newsom accountable for his role in the disaster, claiming that if Newsom were a Republican, the media would have been far more critical.
“Is it appropriate for people in your industry to try to create division and to try to create narratives anytime these things happen?” DeSantis said, addressing the reporters directly. “Now, you’re not as interested in doing that because Newsom is a D [Democrat]. If Newsom was a Republican, you guys would go try to — you would have him nailed to the wall for what they are doing over there.”
DeSantis’s criticism suggested a pattern where media outlets were quick to politicize natural disasters when Republicans were involved, while giving Democrats a free pass. He went on to say, “We just assume in Florida, anytime something happens, it’s going to be politicized by the media.”
He pointed to the 2021 collapse of the Surfside Towers in Florida, where the media tried to place blame on him despite his administration’s efforts to manage the crisis. He compared that situation to what he saw as the media’s softer approach to Democratic officials when similar disasters struck.
“What I’m telling you is you guys are trying to make an issue of it when I have watched from this seat — in fact, when I got elected governor, I was meeting with some other Republican governors and what they would say is, ‘Hey, if you have a natural disaster, just know media is coming at you, they’re going to do it,’” DeSantis said. “It’s not the same.”
During the press conference, DeSantis pointed out that, in contrast to Newsom’s position, Trump’s criticisms were grounded in practical concerns about resource management. The Florida governor seemed to suggest that Newsom’s failure to properly address these concerns contributed to the severity of the wildfires.
“If Newsom were a Republican, you can only imagine the media firestorm that would have followed,” DeSantis said. “You know fires are a high risk and you try to go to Africa or wherever she was, to go on some type of voyage? You should have been there preparing and doing that. And yet I don’t see a lot of heat being directed in that thing.”
The “she” DeSantis referred to was Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who had been in Ghana at the time of the wildfire outbreak, attending the inauguration of Ghana’s president as part of an official delegation. Bass’s absence during such a critical time prompted significant criticism from political opponents and residents alike, who questioned her priorities.
“I would like to see some balance on how this is done,” he said. “You criticize the president-elect, but I think you also have to hold these other people accountable, and I’ve not seen that.”
