‘Orange idiot’: Trump torn into by actor amid California wildfire crisis
Actor Eric Braeden, who was forced to flee from the California wildfires, tears into “the orange idiot” (a.k.a. Donald Trump) for his response to the disaster.
Sometimes tragedies bring out the best in people, such as Sharon Stone opening her home to wildfire victims or firefighters rushing into burning homes to retrieve family photos. Unfortunately, as America has learned time and time again, these tragedies tend to bring out the worst in MAGA. Whether it’s falsely blaming undocumented immigrants for terrorist attacks, inhibiting hurricane relief efforts with FEMA conspiracies, or insisting that Democrats manufacture hurricanes, these people are always eager to use their fellow Americans’ pain to push their agendas. The California wildfires were no exception.
While the fires were still raging uncontained in the Los Angeles area, claiming at least 10 lives and dozens of homes, Trump was sitting at Mar-a-Lago penning angry, all-caps Truth Social posts throwing blame. He blamed California Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Joe Biden for the natural disaster, spreading misinformation that there was no water in California, no money in FEMA, and that Newsom’s water policy was the cause of the water shortage. Many quickly recognized he wasn’t writing out of concern for California but simply using the disaster to take a swipe at his longtime political adversary, Newsom. Now, one of the actors who survived the wildfires has some choice words for Trump.
Actor Eric Braeden slams Donald Trump for politicizing wildfires
Braeden recently spoke to CNN after narrowly escaping the California wildfires. On January 9, he shared a harrowing video of the fires approaching his home. In the video, he captures the blazes moving their way towards him. As he films, a helicopter flies across the sky, lit orange by the fires. In the caption, he wrote, “Saying good bye,” likely uncertain if he’ll see his home again.
On CNN, Braeden acknowledged that he’d seen many fires in the area, but this one scared “the living daylights” out of him. However, he felt it was “the price we pay for living in this beautiful area.” He continued to praise California as “one of the most productive states in the nation.” Braeden knows, though, that not everyone sees California this way, especially not “the orange idiot who will take over on the 25th of January or whatever.”
He then laid into Trump for responding to the disaster by spreading misinformation, as Californians are trying just to do “their damn best.” Braeden stated:
To be very frank with you, I think everyone is really trying to do their damn best OK. And some idiot—the orange idiot—went on television … and claimed all kinds of things about [California Gov. Gavin] Newsom and California and the water distribution. All nonsense.
Braeden went on to denounce all the MAGA “characters” for the kind of “outrageous and very damaging” misinformation they’re spreading on their podcasts. Additionally, as someone who grew up in post-World War II Germany, the actor issued an eerie warning that America is starting to move close to “fascist ideology.” Braeden explained, “But we are close to it [fascism] because people want to simplify complex problems. The essence of fascism is to simplify complex problems and feed people who don’t have time to read some bullsh–t.”
Braeden makes a good point, as simplifying complex problems is precisely what MAGA has been doing with the California wildfires. There’s no one cause of the fires. It’s a complex problem involving numerous factors, from climate change to budget cuts to a lack of preparation for a problem that has afflicted California for years. Of course, there are people who don’t want to take the time to study the Los Angeles budget, history, and the complexities of climate change. That’s where Trump and MAGA come in to start saying it’s just DEI, women, or Newsom’s attempt to save the fish that caused the wildfires. They’re making these gross simplifications without caring that there are real people involved in this tragedy. Real people are losing their lives and their homes, but the “orange idiot” and his followers only care about using it to spread nonsense.
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