As of Nov. 13, deadly wildfires ripping through California have killed at least 42 people, forced hundreds of thousands of residents to leave their homes, and left catastrophic damage to the state — and it’s still not over. As the fires continue…
As of Nov. 13, deadly wildfires ripping through California have killed at least 42 people, forced hundreds of thousands of residents to leave their homes, and left catastrophic damage to the state — and it’s still not over. As the fires continue raging through the state, Ivanka Trump is opening up about the tragedy, offering her support and prayers to the victims. If you saw her father’s response to the fires, you know that Ivanka Trump’s response to the California wildfires is a really refreshing take on the matter.
In a post shared to her Twitter on Monday, Nov. 12, Trump shared a devastating picture that showed the fires burning in the background, with an apparently rescued horse in the center of the chaos. « Sending up prayers for the people, animals and wildlife affected by the horrific #CampFire #WoolseyFire and #HillFire in California, » she captioned the post. « [Also] the courageous firefighters and first responders battling the inferno. »
« God bless all! » Trump added.
The sympathetic words come after President Donald Trump’s more abrasive ones. In a tweet shared to his page on Nov. 10, he seemed to place all the blame on the state of California and forest management, threatening to withdraw federal funding from the state if something doesn’t change in the aftermath of the deathly blazes. « There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor, » the president wrote in a tweet from Paris. « Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments! » Elite Daily reached out to the White House for further comment on his tweet, but did not receive a reply. Not exactly the reaction you’d expect to hear regarding the most destructive fire in California’s history.
Additionally, the comments were just… wrong. According to The New York Times,California has always been vulnerable to fire because of its warm temperatures and low humidity. Experts told the Times that the intensity of the blazes has likely been aggravated by climate change — a topic Trump has often been skeptical of, including saying in October he didn’t know if climate change was man-made ( experts agree it is). Jonathan Overpeck, the dean of the University of Michigan’s environmental school, was one of many people who pushed back against Trump’s comments, telling NBC News on Nov. 12 that the fire « is much less due to bad management and is instead the result of our baking of our forests, woodlands and grasslands with ever-worsening climate change. »
Firefighters, politicians, and celebrities, including Katy Perry and Leonardo DiCaprio, also criticized Donald for the tweet, calling his comments « ill-informed, » « reckless, » and « demeaning » of the victims and the people working to put the fires out, per CNN. Despite the backlash, he doubled down on his comments in another tweet shared the following day, Nov. 11.
Trump later tweeted out a softer message on Nov. 13, thanking firefighters and first responders who are working to save lives. « We mourn for the lives lost and we pray for the victims of the California Wildfires, » he wrote.
Well, it’s something. And Ivanka Trump’s comments on the fires are perhaps just what the victims need to hear in such a turbulent time. Well done.
