Blames Rich for Wildfire Response, Doesn’t Want to Talk About Politics [WATCH]

In the wake of devastating wildfires in California, Chris Cuomo hosted Representative Maxine Waters on NewsNation to discuss the state’s preparedness and resource allocation for affected communities.

The conversation emphasized the urgent need for actionable solutions rather than political debates, with both Cuomo and Waters highlighting gaps in resource distribution and the importance of reaching disadvantaged communities.

Cuomo opened the discussion by addressing the lack of preparedness in areas like Altadena despite California’s substantial resources and history with wildfires.

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“You don’t want to talk about the politics because it’s on your party, because the mayor and the governor are Democrats, who arguably should have had the people in Altadena better prepared for this,” Cuomo said.

“They should have the resources more available so they don’t need me to put them up, because the state has been doing the work and that they’ve been preparing the situations for wildfires like they were made aware of. Instead of cutting deals with PG and E and insurance companies, they would have prepared the state that is not unfair criticism. Is it too soon? Maybe. But the questions are real.”

Waters responded by underscoring the financial realities of providing essential services, advocating for higher taxes on the wealthiest Americans to fund disaster preparedness and recovery efforts.

“Let me tell you something. I’m not in the business of protecting anybody, and I think that my work over the years that I’ve been involved have been absolutely on point in dealing what has to be dealt with in order to help the people,” Waters said.

“First thing we gotta 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 stressed the urgency of focusing on relief efforts over political blame:

“You can do the politics later. You can come and talk about Gavin Newsom later. You can talk about the Democrats later. I don’t care who you talk about, but don’t use up this precious time to do petty politics. Use the time to educate and to share information and to let people know where they can get some food, where they can get a place to stay, where they can get some clothing on and on and on. That’s where I am. I don’t know where you are.”

Waters then yelled at Cuomo to ‘GET BACK ON THE SCREEN’ before he had a chance to respond.

Cuomo agreed with Waters’ call for immediate action, pledging to use his platform to disseminate critical information for those affected by the wildfires.

“I’m right with you representative, and that’s why I wanted you to come on the show,” Cuomo said.

“And I wish I had more numbers and resources to share. I’ll be honest, I’ve watched a lot of states in crisis. Okay, California is not the worst when it’s coming to this right now, but it’s not the best either. There needs to there’s a lot of money in California. There’s a lot of taxes paid, and there are not a lot of resources for people right now, and thinking FEMA is going to pick up the slack, they got their own funding problems.”

Cuomo concluded with a personal commitment: “I am here for you. If you want me to do something, you can call me and I will do it. I will put out the information. I will help people any way that I can, at your instruction that is part of the job that I’m happy to do it.”

Waters directed her criticism toward the media, urging greater focus on educating the public and addressing the needs of underserved communities like Altadena.

“If it’s one thing I don’t like about the media is we use a precious time for petty, you know, stuff that should not be dealt with in the way that we use up the precious hours that media have we got to do more education,” Waters said.

“You were sitting here talking about, you know, people, you know, get on your computers and do this and that. And this way you have a lot of people who don’t have that. They have a television and they need to have the telephone numbers. They need to know how to get in touch with FEMA. They need to know where the resources are.”

She emphasized the importance of prioritizing communities with the greatest needs:

“Don’t just talk about, you know, one part of it, the Palisades, the Malibu. Talk about Altadena, where the poorest people are who need more help than anybody. Come on, let’s do what we can do in a real way. We’ll deal with the politics later.”Watch the video:

Maxine Waters Snaps: Blames Rich for Wildfire Response, Doesn’t Want to Talk Politics…

In the wake of devastating wildfires in California, Chris Cuomo hosted Representative Maxine Waters on NewsNation to discuss the state’s preparedness and resource allocation for affected… pic.twitter.com/z3oFH7WWX0

— RVM News (@redvoicenews) January 11, 2025

Both Cuomo and Waters agreed that immediate focus should remain on helping those impacted by the wildfires.

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