California governor Gavin Newsom faces recall for ‘woefully unprepared’ response to devastating LA fires

A group of bipartisan Californians have a plan to oust liberal Gov. Gavin Newsom from office over his “dismal” response to the LA wildfires.

The Democrat, 57, has faced calls to resign over his devastating handling of the catastrophe, with everyone from Donald Trump to Hollywood stars decrying his and Mayor Karen Bass’s lack of leadership.

Saving California, a group that bills itself as a “nonpartisan coalition of working families, professionals and community activists,” has launched a new recall campaign against Newsom.

Newsom faced and won his first recall battle — which was launched in response to the COVID-19 pandemic — for California in a landslide victory in September 2021.

Randy Economy, a key spokesperson and senior advisor to the initial campaign and a former advisor to RFK Jr., founded the initiative late last year.

While he acknowledges that he was already done with Newsom due to “higher costs of living, increased crime, increased drug use and homelessness,” among other things, the wildfires have forced him to take further action.

Economy calls Newsom ‘woefully unprepared and incompetent’ as wildfires continue to rage through the city.

“Leadership is about solving problems, not shifting responsibility and blame, and Californians can no longer afford to have an empty suit occupy the governorship,” he said in a statement.

He called the recall a “last hope” to get rid of Newsom before his term ends in 2027.

They plan to serve the governor with paperwork in the next two weeks.

This is what a Newsom spokesperson said Newsweek that the governor is “100 percent focused on the fires, the ongoing rescue efforts and the recovery process – not on the politics.”

“Readers still need context that the same group of far-right Trump acolytes has made six different recall attempts against the governor since he took office, each of which has failed spectacularly.

“Even Republican Party leaders have criticized these repeated efforts as a brazen campaign finance fraud, and the recall organizers have been sued by their own donors for pocketing previously raised money.”

This comes as Newsom flies into a rage after claiming he doesn’t know how the Los Angeles wildfires happened — while appearing to blame other officials, including LA Mayor Karen Bass.

When asked for comment, a Saving California spokesperson said a recall for Bass had not been ruled out by the group, but for now Newsom is their focus.

Recently, Newsom was criticized for trying to raise donations for the victims through his own Super PAC.

The governor shared a link to californiafirefacts.com – a website created by his campaign committee – claiming it would combat misinformation about the devastating fires in Los Angeles.

He manages donations intended for California wildfire victims through his super PAC’s fundraising page, which collects donors’ personal information for Democratic databases.

But critics quickly noticed that while the site encourages donations to the California Fire Foundation, all contributions are funneled through ActBlue, the Democratic Party’s fundraising platform, through Newsom’s Campaign for Democracy super PAC.

Donors who provide phone numbers will also be automatically opted in to receive text messages from Newsom’s political organization.

Newsom has been criticized for his attempt to collect donor data while victims are losing homes.

It sparked an immediate backlash with critics pointing out that the California Fire Foundation already accepts direct donations without Democratic Party intermediaries.

Newsom has been accused of ‘passing the buck’ in his latest efforts to defend his response to the state’s devastating ‘Palisade Fire’ inferno, as the official death toll rose to 16 today.

The man previously touted as a potential Democratic presidential candidate has also been criticized for cutting $100 million in funding intended to tackle wildfires.

The controversy comes as Los Angeles residents continue to grapple with devastating wildfires that have destroyed homes and forced widespread evacuations across the region.

As the official death toll from the fires rises to 24, concerned residents are preparing for another 72 hours of hellish weather expected to push the fires in new directions.

The number of fatalities is expected to rise, with at least 16 people still missing and 150,000 forced to evacuate their homes.

In total, four fires have consumed more than 60 square miles in LA’s most affluent neighborhoods, wiping out A-list celebrity homes and restaurant hotspots among its 12,300 buildings.

Local fire departments have warned that higher winds and more fire would keep those under mandatory evacuation orders from returning home to assess damage.

“Life-threatening winds and dangerously low humidity are forecast for much of Southern California, creating a significant risk of rapid fire spread,” the California Fire Marshal (CalFire) said in a statement. “The wind will cause more fire activity.”

The Eaton Fire near Pasadena and the Palisades Fire, in a wealthy enclave along the Pacific coast, alone accounted for nearly 93 square miles.

Nearly 70,000 customers across California were without power on Sunday, with more than half in Los Angeles County, according to PowerOutrage.com.

Extremely dry weather conditions due to prolonged drought, dry vegetation and strong Santa Ana winds reaching up to 80 miles per hour in some areas this week created the “perfect storm” for the fires.

Two people have also been arrested for allegedly setting fires in the county as well, including Ruben Montes, 29, who was arrested Sunday for arson in Irwindale, about 15 miles from Altadena, where the deadly Eaton Fire continues to rage.

Mexican national Juan Manuel Sierra-Leyva was also taken into custody after he was reportedly caught on video walking with a yellow blowtorch before being confronted by residents of Calabasas, west of Beverly Hills.