Bill Maher calls Karen Bass and Cali authorities on fire response ‘Evacuation in Ghana as city burns’

At the end of his show on Friday, HBO host Bill Maher trashed local government on how officials are handling the wildfires that have ravaged Los Angeles.

The “Real Time” host blamed local officials for being unprepared and prioritizing DEI initiatives over a competent fire response. They were out of the country when the fire broke out in LA County, much to the chagrin of the city’s Democratic mayor, Karen Bass.

“LA Mayor Karen Bass, the Nero of American politics, was huddled in Ghana as the city burned”. Maher said..

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Mahder shares an article from Axios about how complicated it is to go after the government because it doesn’t have the resources to fight the fire. to get water A fire escape in a neighborhood in Pacific Palisades, LA was particularly damaged by the fire.

The host saw this as a weak excuse, “I’m sure, I’m sure it’s complicated. That’s why I pay 13 percent of my income in the state every year to people who I think were working on things. Like that.”

Maher tore up the unprepared bass excuse. She noted that the fire was so bad it was caused by “eight months of rain and wind that hasn’t been seen in L.A. for at least 14 years.”

The host teased the line, “Yeah, that’s not a long time, maybe check the history books to see how our forefathers handled it in 2011.”

He also hammered a bass to cut into the Los Angeles Fire Department. For the 2024-2025 fiscal year, Bass originally sought to cut $23 million and cut $17 million from the LAFD budget.

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People look at smoke and flames from the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood on January 7, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Tiffany Rose/Getty Images)

As Maher puts it, he insists the bus outage hasn’t hurt the city’s preparedness. In response, LAFD Chief Christine Crowley came up with a “slightly different take.”

“She said, ‘We’re crying out for proper funding,'” the host said, “and yes, the budget has been cut, and it’s affected our ability to provide services.”

He then derided the city as one of the first response units to prioritize DEI initiatives. “We’ve just got our — the fire-ridden, Neanderthal thing. The good news is our fire chief is a lesbian,” he said, again quoting Crowley.

Maher said he had no problem with her being a lesbian boss, but pointed out that she was chosen because of her sexuality. Or maybe they really wanted a lesbian in that job and she’s a great lesbian for the job, and that might not be enough with the necessary services.

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In support of Maher, he read from Crowley’s LAFD bio, which states, “Chief Crowley leads a diverse department… creating, supporting and fostering a culture that celebrates diversity, inclusion and equity while striving to meet and exceed the expectations of the public…”

The host deleted his bio and said, “Well, you didn’t exceed my expectations, which is that the whole town isn’t going to burn. But before we get to the ‘while’, it’s telling that diversity is mentioned twice – “Striving ‘to meet expectations.’

“It’s a place that spends money and gets nothing,” Maher concluded, describing his home country as “a place where you can’t get away with it.”

“We have the highest marginal tax rate in the U.S., higher than almost any other state. . . . What does that include? Breadsticks? Because it obviously doesn’t cover fire,” he said. “This is the government’s job. Protect us from crime, violence, theft, fires. I’m not saying Alabama would have been better off fighting fires in schools with prayer, but look me in the eye and tell me anyone could have done worse.”

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