Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff will not join President Donald Trump on his visit Friday to see the devastation of the wildfires in California.
A spokesperson for Schiff told reporters that the lawmaker must stay in Washington, DC, for nomination votes rather than helping his state.
“Senator Schiff greatly appreciates the President’s visit to see the devastation of these wildfires firsthand and the invitation to accompany him,
and regrets that he’s unable to join the President in Los Angeles due to scheduled nomination votes. Senator Schiff is committed to working with the Trump Administration,
state and local leaders, as well as his colleagues on both sides of the aisle, to ensure that California gets the aid and support it needs to rebuild and recover from these wildfires,” the spokesperson said.
Using the first trip of his second administration, Trump traveled to areas where politics have influenced the response to catastrophic catastrophes on Friday, visiting wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles and hurricane-battered North Carolina.
Former President Joe Biden’s administration’s response to Hurricane Helene in North Carolina has drawn criticism from the Republican president.
Trump told reporters as he was leaving the White House that “we’re going to get it fixed up” and that “it’s been a horrible thing the way that’s been allowed to fester” since the hurricane struck in September.
Additionally, Trump has called out California authorities for water restrictions that he wrongly claimed made the latest fires worse.
“I would like to examine a fire that could have been extinguished if they had allowed the water to flow, but they did not,” he stated.
Following a briefing on recovery efforts in North Carolina, Trump will visit a tiny village outside of Asheville to speak with locals who have benefited from the work of Samaritan’s Purse, a humanitarian organization led by Franklin Graham, an evangelical leader.
Trump intends to visit the Pacific Palisades neighborhood in California, where countless homes were destroyed by fire. He is anticipated to be briefed on the ongoing fires, which have forced thousands of people to evacuate.
