Bill Maher Blames Government Incompetence, ‘Wokeness’ for Response to L.A. Wildfires | Video

Bill Maher appeared to essentially agree with right wingers blaming the response to the devastating Los Angeles wildfires on pretty much everything they don’t like about liberals during his “New Rules” monologue at the end of Friday’s “Real Time.”

First, he called out what he says was mismanagement by the local and state governments — a theme he returned to throughout the episode as he vented frustrations with California as a “one party state.” Then, he said that it appears crucial services, like the local fire department, emphasized diversity in ways that would “sound kind of racist if a Southern sheriff said it” instead of firefighting.

“A lot of Democrats in this one party state this week went right to ‘don’t blame politicians. You can’t do anything about the wind,’ which is exactly half true. The wind part. Yes, fire is a tough fight out here. And yes, global warming absolutely makes it worse, but that’s largely out of our control. What are we going to do? Pass a ballot measure to make sure Chinese stop burning coal?” Maher said

“It’s also, yes, undeniably true that LA is built in a stupid place to build a city. But when it’s not on fire, it’s really quite lovely, and it’s my home. And stupid as its origin may be, it’s not going anywhere. Axios ran a story on how getting the water out of the hydrants in Pacific Palisades was more complicated than it seems. I’m sure it is. I’m sure it’s very complicated. That’s why I pay 13% of my income in the state every year to people who I assumed were working on things like this,” Maher continued.

Maher then dinged California Gov. Gavin Newsom for what he thought was a lackluster rhetorical response to those issues. Then he slammed Mayor Karen Bass, who he called “the Nero of American politics,” for taking a trip to Ghana just before the fires broke out. He also criticized the 2% fire department 2024 budget cuts that became the source of debate about the fire a week ago, noting that LA Fire Chief Kristin Crowley repeatedly blamed them for how the city was able to respond to the fires. Maher concluded Crowley was right. He did not note however that the budget cuts Crowley complained about were actually temporary, due to negotiations between the city and the department and that eventually LAFD got more money than the previous year.

But Crowley didn’t escape scorn either. Though first, Maher complained about how the state spends money.

“California is the place that spends money and gets nothing, which is why you may have noticed when the fires broke out, no one escaped by high speed rail,” he said. “We have the highest marginal tax rate in America, higher than almost all other states, and soon Greenland. What is included for that? Breadsticks? Because it clearly doesn’t cover fire.”

“That’s government’s job: Protect us from crime, violence, theft, fire. I’m not saying Alabama would have done better with fires by fighting them with prayer in school, but look me in the eye and tell me anyone could have done worse. We just got our ass kicked by fire, something Neanderthals fought to a tie,” Maher continued, at this point turning his attention back to Crowley. “The good news is our fire chief is a lesbian.”

“Am I against a lesbian being chief? Of course, not. Do I think a lesbian can do the job? Of course I do, and maybe she’s the best person for the job, or maybe they really wanted a lesbian in that job, and she’s just the best lesbian for the job, and with essential services, that’s not good enough,” Maher said.

“Crowley’s official bio says ‘Chief Crowley leads a diverse department, creating, supporting and promoting a culture that values diversity, inclusion and equity, while striving to meet and exceed the expectations of the communities.’ Well, you didn’t exceed my expectations,” Maher said, “which was that the whole city wouldn’t burn down.”

Then Maher turned his attention to LAFD Deputy Chief Kristine Larson, who heads up diversity and inclusion efforts within the department. Maher cited an undated video Larson appeared in, during which she said, “you want to see somebody that responds to your house, your emergency, whether it’s a medical call or a fire call that looks like you.”

That, Maher said, “would sound kind of racist if a Southern sheriff said it. So we should be sending white firefighters to White Houses and black ones to — who teaches people this bulls—?” Maher continued. “No one cares what someone looks like when they’re pulling you out of a burning house.”

Maher then quoted another part of the video where Larson addresses concerns women can’t lift men out of fires, in which she said, “he got himself into the wrong place if I have to carry him out of a fire.” This is, to be clear, a real clip, though it’s important to note that said clip had clearly been edited down. It’s unclear what context in which these remarks were made is, nor is it clear what the original source of the video is. We were unable to track down the original clip as of this writing, and the City of Los Angeles doesn’t appear to have released it.

“Now, is wokeness the main reason for the fires? Of course not. But it’s also not wrong to associate some of the unforced errors our government made with the things normies see as hallmarks of Uber progressive politics: Questionable budget priorities, high taxes that get you nothing, making everything about identity politics, virtue signaling overseas, instead of tending to the nuts and bolts at home,” Maher continued. “Cali has no shortage of safety commissions and agencies and bureaucrats and regulators and of course, sign language interpreters who communicate with their fists,” Maher said, while a montage of sign language interpreters displayed onscreen.

“But common sense? We better get some of that back soon, because wildfires in California are like boob jobs in a strip Club: Inevitable, and they’re only going to get bigger,” he concluded.

Watch the whole thing below.

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