Newsom slams Trump response to California wildfires while praising Biden

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) slammed President Trump’s response to the California wildfires in a quick appearance during the Democratic National Convention.

Newsom considered canceling his planned comments at the convention due to the wildfires but made an appearance for just under three minutes in a video taken about a mile away from one of the fires.

The governor also expressed his support for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.).

“There’s so much at stake in this election,” the governor said, pointing to the issue of climate change and keeping intact Obama-era environmental policies. 

“Mother nature has now joined this conversation around climate change,” he said. “And so we, too, need to advance that conversation anew.”

“Just today, the president of the United States threatened the state of California — 40 million Americans happen to live here in the state of California — to defund our efforts on wildfire suppression because he said we hadn’t raked enough leaves,” he added. “You can’t make that up.”

Spoke at the #DemConvention outside of an evacuation center due to the raging fires across CA.

We cannot afford to waste another moment. Another cycle. Another year denying climate change. Refusing science.

VOTE. And for @JoeBiden. Like your life depends on it. Because it does. pic.twitter.com/rRSjnjxhTv

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) August 21, 2020

The California governor cited the more than 90 lawsuits the state is involved in with the Trump administration, including suits over clean air, clean water, endangered species and pesticides. 

Newsom said he was heading to an evacuation center but wanted to stop to “express my deep reverence, my admiration to Joe Biden, to Kamala Harris.”

The governor said on Wednesday that California is experiencing 367 fires after almost 11,000 lightning strikes and record heat. These fires include 23 “complex fires,” or an area that involves multiple fires. 

During a speech in Pennsylvania, Trump mentioned the wildfires and criticized the Golden State, saying he instructed them to clean their floors.