An irate California pastor has gone viral for his sermon hitting out at the state’s Democratic leadership as deadly wildfires continue to spread across Los Angeles.
Jack Hibbs, the founding pastor of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, did not mince words as he spoke out about the failures of Mayor Karen Bass and Governor Gavin Newsom, calling them both ‘incompetent’ for their handling of the massive blazes.
‘This is the most wealthy state in the 50. We pay the most in taxes, the most in gas, we pay the most in electricity, you name it – if it’s in California, we pay the most for it,’ he began.
‘Why? Because of our government.
‘Why? Because of things that Sacramento does because they can,’ Hibbs said of the seat of California’s state government.
He went on to say that California has been under complete Democratic control, noting that the party has a ‘supermajority’ in the state government – which he said means ‘nobody can oppose their decision making.
‘And now you’ve got it, you got a situation where a catastrophe came and the billions of dollars that you and I gave were diverted to other woke stupid Democratic projects.
‘That’s not hyperbole, that’s a fact,’ he said amid uproar over the Los Angeles Fire Department’s diversity chief being paid over $300,000 – despite apparently admitting that she cannot pull a man out of a burning building.
Jack Hibbs, the founding pastor of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, has gone viral for his sermon hitting out at the state’s Democratic leadership as deadly wildfires continue to spread across Los Angeles
‘I’m upset and I’m angry, and it’s the right kind of anger,’ Hibbs told his congregation as he spoke out about Los Angeles’ fire hydrants being left without water and hit out at President Joe Biden’s explanation.
The president brazenly claimed that the hydrants were turned off to save electricity.
‘In some cases, that might be true. If the hydrants are on top of a mountain, you need a motor to drive the water up,’ Hibbs admitted.
But, he said, ‘That’s extremely rare, and it wasn’t the case in these fires,’ which he blamed on ‘bad management [and] horrific politicians who took your money and took trips like Karen Bass, the mayor of LA, she decided to go to Africa the week of the fires to go on a little you paid for.
‘She was really put out when she was told to come home,’ Hibbs claimed, before launching into an attack on Newsom, who he said was caught laughing on tape at one of the command centers.
‘It’s time to replace the leadership in California,’ Hibbs concluded, to raucous applause.
‘You don’t need any more examples,’ he said. ‘These fires could have been stopped.’
But Hibbs was not the only one criticizing the government’s handling of the fires, as Elon Musk – who is set to lead incoming President Donald Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency – posting about the state’s leadership just two days after the fires broke out.
He hit out at California Gov. Gavin Newsom, pictured second from right, for laughing at one of the command centers
Hibbs also directed his anger at Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who was on a trip to Ghana when the fires broke out
‘The immense loss of homes in LA is primarily due to: 1. Nonsensical overregulation that prevented creating fire breaks and doing brush clearing. 2. Bad governance at the state and local level that resulted in a shortage of water,’ he wrote on X.
Businessman and mayoral candidate Rick Caruso also blasted local officials last week for failing to refill the water supplies despite knowing that strong winds which could whip up wildfires were on the way.
‘The (firefighters’) hands have been tied. They can’t fight a fire without water and the resources that are needed. Everybody knew these winds were coming,’ Caruso told Fox 11.
‘The other question has to be, were all the things in place to try to mitigate the damage here?
‘The real issue to me here is two-fold. We’ve had decades to remove the brush in these hills that spreads so quickly, and the second is, we’ve got to have water.
‘My understanding is the reservoir was not refilled in time, in a timely manner to keep the hydrants going… this is basic stuff, this isn’t high science here.
‘It’s all about leadership and management that we’re seeing a failure of, and all of these residents are paying the ultimate price for that.’
As of Monday, more than 100,000 people signed a petition calling on Newsom to resign from his position as the fires destroyed more than 62 square miles across the most affluent neighborhoods of LA, with A-list celebrity homes and restaurant hotspots among the 12,300 structures wiped out.
The fires destroyed more than 62 square miles across the most affluent neighborhoods of LA
Firefighters’ efforts have been hindered by a lack of water in the hydrants
More than 12,000 structures have been wiped out in the fires, and 150,000 people were forced to evacuate
The blazes have also taken the lives of at least 24 people, though officials have warned that the fatality total is likely to climb, with at least 16 people still missing and 150,000 forced to evacuate from their homes.
Local fire departments have also warned that harsher winds and more fire would prevent those under mandatory evacuation orders from returning home to assess the damage.
‘Life-threatening winds and dangerously low humidity are forecast for much of Southern California, creating a significant risk of rapid fire spread,’ the California fire service (CalFire) said in a statement. ‘The winds will cause increased fire activity.’
