“We have political leaders who are not prioritizing the safety and livability of our cities,” Rick Caruso said without naming Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass about the human causes of the Los Angeles wildfires on HBO. Real Time with Bill Maher Tonight in one of the largest political sit-ins in a turbulent week locally, nationally and internationally.
“Why hasn't more been done?”
One factor Caruso pointed to is Los Angeles County's frequently downed and downed power lines getting underground. He also called for the LAFD to be “fully funded.” For a man who seemed overly scripted in his failed 2022 race to become Los Angeles mayor, Caruso has been very vocal when it comes to threats from Republicans in Congress and President-elect Donald Trump that future federal aid to California for recent wildfires and future wildfires may not be there. It is delivered with such an open hand anymore
“The idea that federal aid is going to come with strings attached…is just nonsense,” Caruso said bluntly. “prattle!”
Before the one-on-one with Caruso, the host set the tone for Friday Real Time with Bill Maher The Season 23 premiere is right near the top of the show with quips about air quality in Los Angeles and remarks not to “make fun of rednecks who have their house on wheels.” However, not all of the jokes in the monologue included praise for the firefighters, “the ones who saved us,” and of course more than just a handful of barbs against the return of Donald Trump and his MAGA gang to the Oval Office.
But even though the pre-recorded show was slightly behind the timing of Trump's recent inauguration, it has now been moved indoors due to near-freezing weather in D.C. It was the Los Angeles wildfires that broke out in at present Spotlights
“There is no greater priority than getting people home,” Mayor Bass said after appointing businessman and former Police Commission Chairman Steve Soboroff today as Los Angeles' chief recovery officer in a job that many believe should have gone to Caruso. A week and a half after firestorms that reduced swaths of Palisades, Pasadena and Altadena to dust hit the City of Angels and with about 200,000 people evacuated, Bass also insisted Friday that the city would unveil a rebuilding strategy next week.
It may be too late for the mayor.
After losing to Karen Bass by nearly 10% in a runoff on November 8, 2022 in his multimillion-dollar self-financed race, real estate developer and former Police Commission Chairman Caruso was all over television, the internet and social media in the early 1990s. Hours of Santa Ana winds battered Los Angeles and fast-moving fires broke out across the vast, extremely dry county. As Bass departed the city on January 4 on an official visit to Ghana, despite widespread warnings from the National Weather Service of approaching deadly winds, Caruso, a cross-party member, suddenly looked like the city's de facto chief executive — at least Until then. Governor Gavin Newsom arrived on the scene by January 8 with Joe Biden's Los Angeles visit.
The broadcast went off the air during the early days of the bushfires and on January 10 Bill Maher: Does anyone else see this? Special outside Maher used the media exposure to hold Bass and Newsom's feet to the fire, literally and figuratively, for their faltering response to the fires.
Any ferocious response Caruso used by using private firefighters (the home team, as he called it) to rescue the sprawling outdoor mall in Palisades Village and eight nearby homes from raging flames last week, as well as his home in Brentwood, seemed dull or even lost. In condemning Bass for her absence while her city burns. If not, Caruso has made sure to focus on helping “those who need help most” in an unannounced campaign that has clearly begun.
Even when the mayor tried to return home after the inauguration of Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama, her silence on the questions of a reporter on her flight added to her condemnation.
A less-than-stellar performance by Bass when she was in Los Angeles, with “URL” ads instead of the city's website and shout-outs from the LAFD chief, left the mayor looking like a bit player in the devastating drama hitting the nation's second-largest city and major county.
After supposedly being up for re-election next year, Bass now appears to be political DOA. The ever-coiffed Caruso, on the other hand, appears poised to make another bid for City Council in 2026, or even the term-limited governor's seat when Newsom is scheduled to exit Sacramento.
“I want to focus on rebuilding,” a shy Caruso told Maher on Friday. “There is time for me to decide whether I want to run or not.”
Tonight at present Back to 23Third The season comes before Maher's old enemy Trump takes office again on MLK Weekend on January 20. Along with featured guest Caruso, Maher's show tonight also featured comedian/producer Larry Wilmore and GOP strategist Erin Perrine on MLK. at present plate.
The 23rdThird season at present It will run until November 21, halfway through the midterm elections that could be a minefield for both Trump and Bass.
