In a heartrending but nevertheless entertaining video out of California on Thursday, December 9, California Governor Gavin Newsom was confronted to his face by a mother distraught over the destruction wrought by the raging wildfires that have devastated tens of thousands of acres of countryside and residential neighborhoods in the Los Angeles area.
The wildfires decimated the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, particularly. Once known for its celebrity homeowners, beautiful mansions, and exquisite views, the neighborhood was utterly destroyed by the raging inferno that tore across it. Most of the homes were destroyed, and many homeowners were out of luck, as insurance companies had pulled out of the area just months prior due to an inability to raise rates.
In the video at hand showing Newsom getting confronted and faking a phone call to avoid the angry constituent, Pacific Palisades resident Rachel Darvish was caught on tape by a Sky News crew as she approached and confronted Governor Newsom in the streets, demanding answers as to how he aims to control the crisis and rebuild.
Essentially running away from her, walking at a quick clip away as she approached and holding his phone to his ear, Governor Newsom pretended to be trying to reach President Joe Biden to discuss the crisis and how the suffering caused by it might be ameliorated. However, the destruction wrought by the fire meant there was no cellphone coverage.
After Darvish caught up to Newsom, she pressed him on why the fire hydrants in the Pacific Palisades area ran out of water as the fire fighters tried to stop the roaring blazes. She snapped that she would “fill up hydrants myself,” asking Gov. Newsom if he would do the same. He replied, saying, “I would do whatever I can.”
Catching him in the lie, Darvish noted that there was a great deal of unused water about which he was doing little to effect utilization of it, telling him that he was not, in fact, doing whatever he could. She snapped, “But you’re not. There’s water dripping over there. Governor, there’s water coming out there. You can use it.”
Continuing to press an obviously uncomfortable Gov. Gavin Newsom, Darvish then demanded answers on if he would at least explain what he is going to do and then do that. Pressing him on that, she asked if she could, at the very least, “have an opportunity to at least tell people you’re doing what you’re saying you’re doing.” Watch the incident here:
As could be expected, the incident led to a great degree of outcry on X (formerly Twitter). For example, the Libs of Tik Tok account posted a clip of the interaction and captioned it by saying, “MUST WATCH: A fire victim just confronted Gavin Newsom and demanded answers. He pretends to be trying to make a phone call.”
Similarly, Trump’s rapid response director, Jake Schneider, posted the clip on X and praised Darvish for her tenacity in going after Newsom, saying, “WOW. This woman literally ran up to Gavin Newsom on the street and demanded answers on his disastrous wildfires response—and she was NOT taking no for an answer. Good for her.”
On the other side of things, Izzy Gardon, who serves as Newsom’s director of communications, released a statement to Newsweek in which she said, “After hearing from Rachel, the Governor immediately spoke to President Biden and as a result of that call the President committed to covering 100 percent of the response costs for the next 180 days. That’s a game-changer. I also just spoke with Rachel and I’m working to connect her with recovery services, local support, and provide the latest information.” She added, “Her entire community has been decimated. She doesn’t know if her home is still standing. Her children’s schools are gone. The horrors of this fire are simply beyond scale.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video
