Playing with fire: Trump’s let-it-burn cruelty for California

New York Daily News, The (NY)

It’s summer, which means wildfires -- as common to California as hurricanes are to Florida. As thick smoke hangs in the air, once again, residents of the nation’s most populous state seek assistance from the federal government for destroyed and threatened property. Once again, President Trump cruelly finds reason to fiddle while the West Coast burns.

For the third year in a row, Trump blames the blazes on California’s “land management” issues and not “raking” its forests enough. Two problems: He utterly distorts the science of wildfires, and most conflagrations start on federal properties, which, of course, means it’s ultimately his responsibility.

The last two years, aid did eventually materialize, but likely despite, not because of the president. Former Department of Homeland Security chief of staff Miles Taylor disclosed this week as he endorsed Joe Biden that two years ago Trump directed FEMA to withhold assistance for purely vindictive personal reasons: ”He told us to stop giving money to people whose houses had burned down from a wildfire because he was so rageful that people in the state of California didn’t support him and that politically it wasn’t a base for him.”

A man who demeans his perceived enemies more than any president then toys with punishing disaster victims for failing to support him politically. Talk about the arsonist playing firefighter.

This is the Daily News’ Editorial Board’s reminder of 99 reasons Donald Trump ought to be disqualified from serving a second term as president. To read more, go here.

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