If, on the off chance, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) was looking for competition for the worst mayor in America, he maybe would find it with Karen Bass (D).
Bass, a former Congresswoman, is in her first term as Mayor of Los Angeles. Her city, as we all know, is literally on fire, with new wildfires flaring up almost daily, some of which have caused loss of life, loss of homes and other property, and have left whole communities absolutely devastated and looking for answers to the question "where do we go from here?"
Her failures on this issue are impossible to overstate and date back to before the wildfires started. But it was her bizarre reaction to a reporter grilling her Wednesday over her failures - which was to stare blankly and then walk away without saying a word - that has raised a lot of eyebrows amid the unfolding situation in L.A.
READ MORE: Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass Shredded by Journo During Interview for Being AWOL As Wildfires Rage
Sadly for Bass - and for citizens desperate for real leadership, for the calm in the midst of the storm - she made matters worse for herself during her first official wildfire press conference, which itself turned into a disaster thanks to Bass.
First, there was the fact that instead of at the very least sounding like she was speaking from a place of compassion and concern, she read directly from a script the entire time:
LA Mayor Bass says she took the “fastest way back” to LA from Ghana, which involved the use of a military plane, which she says helped with communication.
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) January 9, 2025
She is reading off a prepared script, looking down every second as she delivers her first press conference for the fire.
Then there was the moment that she uttered the letters "U R L" when she was supposed to give out the website address victims and concerned residents could go to in order to find out more information.
“Right now, if you need help - emergency information, resources, and shelter is [sic] available. All of this can be found at U R L,” she proclaimed.
Watch:
LA’s mayor Karen Bass can barely read her prepared statement, can’t even pronounce the word heroism correctly. Just awful, horribly embarrassing for LA: pic.twitter.com/DM2REbuItG
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) January 9, 2025
Presumably, this is the URL she meant to give.
Relatedly, a 2021 tweet from Bass dinging Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) for his Cancun trip has resurfaced at a most inconvenient time for the embattled mayor:
So, how was Ghana? pic.twitter.com/jVOEbfcjeL
— Jimmy (@JimmyPrinceton) January 9, 2025
Honestly, between the taxpayer-funded Ghana trip, the deer-in-headlights look in front of the reporter, and the awkward press conference, I don't see how Bass survives this politically speaking. Because after all the smoke clears, the harsh glare of the media spotlight is going to shine down even brighter on her bigger failures which will include questions about funding for the fire department.
But Los Angeles is a Democrat-dominated city and they're known for routinely voting for the same people/political party and yet expecting improved results each time. Until that mindset changes, these types of dangerous situations - and the unacceptable responses from city/county/state "leaders" to them - will, unfortunately, continue to happen.
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