Oscar-winning actor Mel Gibson criticized California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass for what he described as their mishandling of the violent anti-ICE riots that swept through Los Angeles last weekend.
Speaking on Fox News contributor Raymond Arroyo’s “Arroyo Grande” podcast, actor-director Mel Gibson voiced his frustration with the situation. The “Braveheart” star criticized the two Democratic leaders for what he described as a general lack of civic leadership and pointed to what he sees as a pattern of incompetence, beginning with their response to the Los Angeles wildfires.
He said:
Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass have already proven their incompetence and poor leadership during the Los Angeles wildfires.
Now, as we experience rampant lawlessness and civil unrest, it’s never been more clear. They’re unable to respond effectively and responsibly during calamity. Whether it’s sheer incompetence or outright malevolence, the reality is stark.
California’s in a state of turmoil. And I ask my fellow Angelenos, ‘Why are Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass still in office? How much more of their destructive decision-making masquerading as leadership are we going to tolerate?’
It’s time to take back our community and our state and put the power and the privilege in the hands of competent leaders whose goals are to protect us and the way of life this nation was founded upon and promises to offer.
As noted by Fox News, Gibson, who was appointed a special ambassador to Hollywood by President Donald Trump in January, lost his home in the Palisades Fire that erupted on January 7. In February, Mel Gibson joined the Saving California movement in its campaign to recall Governor Gavin Newsom. The Passion of the Christ director appeared at a press conference in Altadena on February 27.
“We deserve much more and much better, and there is absolutely no adequate excuse the governor or mayor can make for this gross mismanagement and failure to preemptively deal with what they knew was coming,” Gibson said, referring to Newsom and Bass, according to KTLA as cited by FOX News. “Was it incompetence? Was it indifference, complacency, carelessness? Was it negligence? Absolutely,” Gibson added.