{"id":2387810,"date":"2025-01-08T11:43:01","date_gmt":"2025-01-08T16:43:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/karen-bass-takes-heat-for-africa-trip-amid-l-a-fires\/"},"modified":"2025-01-08T11:44:14","modified_gmt":"2025-01-08T16:44:14","slug":"karen-bass-takes-heat-for-africa-trip-amid-l-a-fires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/karen-bass-takes-heat-for-africa-trip-amid-l-a-fires\/","title":{"rendered":"Karen Bass Takes Heat For Africa Trip Amid L.A. Fires"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fkaren-bass-takes-heat-for-africa-trip-amid-l-a-fires%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2387810&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Los Angeles Mayor \u2062Karen Bass faced significant\u2063 backlash for <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">attending teh presidential inauguration<\/a> of Ghana&#8217;s John Dramani Mahama while her city was overwhelmed by devastating wildfires. As thousands of residents evacuated their\u200b homes due to \u200cthe fires, Bass was part of a U.S. \u2063presidential delegation at the event. Her absence during such a crisis drew criticism from local residents and political \u2063opponents, including Rick Caruso, who accused her of\u200d poor leadership.many <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/abc-political-director-rick-klein-calls-for-cleansing-pro-trump-movement\/\" title=\"ABC Political Director Rick Klein calls for \u2018cleansing\u2019 pro-Trump movement\">expressed outrage<\/a> over \u2063the situation,questioning the preparedness and response of city officials to the disaster. Various residents voiced their frustrations, emphasizing\u200b the disconnection\u2062 between their needs during the crisis and the \u2063mayor&#8217;s prioritization of \u2062international events.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:P20221013AS-0370_(52651361570).jpg\">The White House\/Wikimedia Commons<\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/01\/08\/californians-drag-las-democrat-mayor-for-attending-african-inauguration-while-her-city-goes-up-in-flames\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=Californians%20Drag%20LA%E2%80%99s%20Democrat%20Mayor%20For%20Attending%20African%20Inauguration%20While%20Her%20City%20Goes%20Up%20In%20Flames&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/01\/08\/californians-drag-las-democrat-mayor-for-attending-african-inauguration-while-her-city-goes-up-in-flames\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=Californians%20Drag%20LA%E2%80%99s%20Democrat%20Mayor%20For%20Attending%20African%20Inauguration%20While%20Her%20City%20Goes%20Up%20In%20Flames&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/01\/08\/californians-drag-las-democrat-mayor-for-attending-african-inauguration-while-her-city-goes-up-in-flames\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\" https:><\/path><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/01\/08\/californians-drag-las-democrat-mayor-for-attending-african-inauguration-while-her-city-goes-up-in-flames\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=Californians%20Drag%20LA%E2%80%99s%20Democrat%20Mayor%20For%20Attending%20African%20Inauguration%20While%20Her%20City%20Goes%20Up%20In%20Flames&amp;body=While%20Los%20Angeles%20locals%20were%20fleeing%20their%20homes%20due%20to%20destructive%20wildfires,%20Bass%20was%20attending%20the%20inauguration%20of%20Ghana's%20new%20president.%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/01\/08\/californians-drag-las-democrat-mayor-for-attending-african-inauguration-while-her-city-goes-up-in-flames\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &amp; Email\"><span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>Los Angeles Democrat Mayor Karen Bass is taking heat for attending a presidential inauguration in Africa while her city&rsquo;s residents endured massive fires. <\/p>\n<p>While thousands of L.A. locals were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/live-news\/fires-rage-across-los-angeles-county-forcing-thousands-to-evacuate-their-homes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fleeing<\/a> their homes due to the destructive wildfires engulfing the region, Bass was busy attending the Tuesday inauguration of Ghana President John Dramani Mahama. The White House <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/presidential-actions\/2025\/01\/03\/president-biden-announces-presidential-delegation-to-the-republic-of-ghana-to-attend-the-inauguration-of-his-excellency-john-dramani-mahama\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">announced<\/a> on Friday that the California Democrat would attend the event as part of its presidential delegation. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-528807979\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Bass served on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs as chair of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations prior to becoming mayor of Los Angeles.<\/p>\n<p>While <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.md\/LTAQd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reportedly<\/a> expected to return to the U.S. on Wednesday, Bass&rsquo;s absence amid the disaster plaguing her constituents quickly generated outrage from local Californians. <\/p>\n<p>Rick Caruso, who ran against Bass in Los Angeles&rsquo; 2022 mayoral race, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/StellaEscoTV\/status\/1876899922068287739\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">blasted<\/a> his former opponent for her failed &ldquo;leadership management,&rdquo; which he argued &ldquo;residents are paying the ultimate price for.&rdquo; When asked by Fox 11 why there is <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/01\/08\/us-news\/firefighters-run-out-of-water-as-fires-tear-through-los-angeles\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reportedly<\/a> no water in fire hydrants needed to put out the fires, Caruso replied, &ldquo;Why don&rsquo;t you call the mayor, who is out of the country, and ask her? Get an answer from her.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>Wes Nichols, a Los Angeles area investor, similarly expressed outrage at California Democrats&rsquo; ineptitude. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I just left the hellscape formerly know as Pacific Palisades where I&rsquo;ve lived for 26 years. I&rsquo;m mad at what I saw,&rdquo; Nichols wrote on X. &ldquo;Our politicians have failed us. Unprepared, unimaginative, understaffed, now overwhelmed. Heads must roll for this disaster.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <span class=\"ibK\"><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I just left the hellscape formerly know as Pacific Palisades where I&rsquo;ve lived for 26 years. I&rsquo;m mad at what I saw. Our politicians have failed us. Unprepared, unimaginative, understaffed, now overwhelmed. Heads must roll for this disaster. I personally saw 100+ homes fully&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/8txvSJEZXd\">pic.twitter.com\/8txvSJEZXd<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Wes Nichols (@wesnichols) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/wesnichols\/status\/1876901150676693491?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 8, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>One resident forced to evacuate from her home <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FoxNews\/status\/1876974725995364632\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">blasted<\/a> Bass for being MIA amid the disaster impacting her constituents.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I know where I am right now, but I don&rsquo;t know where my mayor was when this was happening,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m born and raised in Los Angeles. I spend my life worrying about when the earthquakes come, when the Santa Ana winds come; I plan my trips around this. For someone to be in charge of my town, where were you?&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The New York Post&rsquo;s Emily Crane highlighted in a <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/01\/08\/us-news\/la-mayor-karen-bass-cut-fire-department-funding-by-17-6m\/?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=nypost\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wednesday report<\/a> how Los Angeles&rsquo; 2024-2025 budget included $17.6 million in cuts for the locality&rsquo;s fire department. That amount is less than the $23 million in cuts for the department Bass proposed in her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gavin-newsoms-2023-24-budget-receives-pushback-from-local-lawmakers-on-key-issues\/\" title=\"Local lawmakers oppose Gavin Newsom&#039;s 2023-24 budget on important matters.\">original budget plan<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-14262667\/LA-mayor-slammed-ignoring-fire-warnings-travel-Ghana-litany-failures-fuel-huge-blazes.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Daily Mail<\/a>, &ldquo;Meteorologists gave plenty of warning that a &lsquo;recipe for fire&rsquo; was on track to strike LA as far back as last week.&rdquo; The outlet noted comments from the National Weather Service&rsquo;s Rick Thompson, who &ldquo;warned that the region was extremely dry for the time of year because &lsquo;we haven&rsquo;t had any <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-flood-at-abbott-baby-formula-plant-in-michigan-halts-production-for-weeks\/\" title=\"A Flood at Abbott Baby Formula Plant in Michigan Halts Production for \u201cWeeks\u201d\">significant rain<\/a> for months.&#8217;&rdquo;<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Shawn Fleetwood<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShawnFleetwood\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@ShawnFleetwood<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/shawnfleetwood\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/africa\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Africa<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/california\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">California<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/california-fires\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">California Fires<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/california-wildfire\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">California wildfire<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/democrats\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Democrats<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/elitism\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">elitism<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/ghana\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Ghana<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/karen-bass\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Karen Bass<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/los-angeles\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Los Angeles<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/wildfires\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">wildfires<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass faces criticism for attending a presidential inauguration in Africa while her city dealt with severe wildfires<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2387811,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Karen-Bass.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[46330,6733,48133,48134],"class_list":["post-2387810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-africa-trip","tag-controversy","tag-karen-bass","tag-los-angeles-fires"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Karen-Bass.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2387810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2387810"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2387810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2387814,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2387810\/revisions\/2387814"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2387811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2387810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2387810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2387810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}