INTERNACIONAL
Dem mayor faces reality check after accusing rival of ‘exploiting’ Palisades Fire: ‘Absolute tone deafness’
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Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is facing backlash for her response to mayoral candidate and former reality television star Spencer Pratt, who has been attacking L.A. leaders over alleged mismanagement during the deadly Palisades Fire.
Bass accused Pratt of «exploiting» the tragedy, which he faced personally, to score political points. Pratt, however, pushed back and said he won community awards for his support of the Palisades community during the tragedy that resulted in both his and his families’ homes being burnt down. He said he also knew people who burned alive across the street from his childhood home.
«Honestly, before this, I had never heard of Spencer Pratt,» Bass told MeidasTouch as the former reality star’s anti-Bass ads about her mismanagement during the Palisades began gaining traction online. «The thing I am concerned and feel about him is that I feel like he’s exploiting the grief of people in the Palisades and I just think that’s just reprehensible. That’s the main thing and I think he is about his own celebrity — he’s famous now again.»
The questioner during the interview agreed with Bass throughout the talk, but did concede that the fires were something «top of mind» for California voters. Still, Bass was lauded by the questioner for her experience working in public office during such a major disaster, a tenure Pratt is targeting.
SPENCER PRATT ANNOUNCES LA MAYOR RUN ON ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF PALISADES FIRE THAT DESTROYED HIS HOME
Mayor Karen Bass appeared to blame the fires and their destruction on climate change during the interview. (Getty )
«For a longtime politician, I am godsmacked by Karen Bass’ absolute tone deafness in attacking a survivor of the Palisades Fire in this way,» Roxanne Hoge, Chairwoman of the L.A. Republican Party, told Fox News Digital.
«All of Los Angeles is grieving the loss of our once-beautiful and prosperous City under Karen Bass’ and Nithya Raman’s leadership the last 4 years. To accuse Spencer Pratt — who lives in his burned-out lot in a trailer — of ‘exploiting grief’ is a new low,» Elizabeth Barcohana, an attorney and political strategist in Los Angeles, added. «It is only thanks to Pratt that we know why Bass was unprepared for the Palisades Fire, why [Gov. Gavin] Newsom chose to save plants instead of the people who burned alive that day, how the FireAid money disappeared into local NGO coffers instead of going to victims, and what our taxpayer funding that is supposed to be used to reduce homelessness is actually being spent on.»
«Mayor Bass calling Spencer Pratt’s campaign ‘reprehensible’ is the kind of tone-deaf political malpractice that explains exactly why Los Angeles is in crisis. Spencer Pratt lost his home. His parents lost their home. He watched his city burn while his mayor was on a plane to Ghana. That’s not exploitation, that’s lived experience, and it’s the most legitimate credential anyone could bring to this race,» former Trump campaign advisor Janiyah Thomas also told Fox News Digital. «Mayor Bass had the audacity to say she’d never heard of Spencer Pratt, but Angelenos have never forgotten that she cut the fire department’s budget and was absent when their homes were turning to ash.»
LA TIMES OWNER BLAMES MAYOR FOR CUTTING FIRE DEPARTMENT BUDGET AHEAD OF WILDFIRES: ‘COMPETENCE MATTERS’
Meanwhile, Bass said during the MeidasTouch interview that her experience leading the city’s response during the deadly Palisades Fire, in addition to her experience at the federal level in Congress, was exactly why she was a better candidate than Pratt, adding he could use a civics class to understand how government works.
But Bass faced heavy criticism during the fire for being absent, including taking a trip to Ghana as a historic windstorm swept the area ahead of the blaze, for not deploying proper pre-fire resources and enacting around $17.6 million cuts to the city’s fire department ahead of the tragedy.
Bass appeared to blame the fires and their destruction on climate change during the interview, while arguing her experience serving in public office during the disaster is why she should be re-elected.
DEMS BLAME LA FIRE ON ‘CLIMATE CHANGE’ DESPITE CITY CUTTING FIRE DEPARTMENT BUDGET
«These fires, it was the worst natural disaster that we experienced in our city — at the root of it, you know, we have to get adjusted to — just like everybody else in the nation — to different weather experiences that we’re not used to because of climate change,» Bass added during the discussion about Pratt and his attacks on her record. «We don’t know hurricanes — I’m born and raised in Los Angeles — to have hurricane-strength winds and actually no rain is odd anywhere but especially Los Angeles.»
Bass’ office referred Fox News Digital to the mayor’s campaign team, but they did not provide any response in time for publication.
A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire while it burns homes at Pacific Coast Highway amid a powerful windstorm on Jan. 8, 2025, in Los Angeles, California. (Apu Gomes/Getty Images)
«I’m not sure if Karen Bass forgot she let my house burn down and my parents house burn down and I had actual neighbors burn alive across the street from my childhood home,» Pratt responded on Fox News’ «The Will Cain Show» when asked about Bass’ criticism of him. «The only grief is my grief, my community’s grief that I initially started this fight on behalf of.»
«It’s the most insane, psycho, diabolical thing I’ve heard in a minute – but it’s not shocking,» Pratt added.
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«How the hell is Spencer Pratt ‘exploiting grief’?» Meghan McCain, daughter of the late Sen. John McCain, questioned in a post on X about Bass’ response. «He, his wife, children and parents lost their homes and everything in it in a fire because of Karen Bass and her failed policies.»
«Mayor Bass is in damage control. Bass calling this ‘exploitation’ tells you that she wants sympathy for herself and silence from the actual victims of the fires,» Corrin Rankin, California Republican Party chairwoman, told Fox News Digital. «Californians are tired of Democratic politicians who lack accountability and attack critics. When people lose everything, they have every right to demand answers from the people in charge that failed them.»
politics on late night, gavin newsom, fires disasters, la fires, homeless crisis
INTERNACIONAL
Democrat compares ICE to ‘domestic terrorists’ as 111 House Dems demand Texas detention center close
Rep. Delia Ramirez calls for abolition of ICE at DHS hearing
At a House Homeland Security Committee hearing, Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., delivers a powerful and emotional statement, questioning if any parent wouldn’t go to extreme lengths for their dying child. Ramirez attacks for-profit prison corporations and makes a direct call to abolish ICE and dismantle DHS, citing concerns over inhuman conditions.
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A House Democratic lawmaker compared actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to domestic terrorism after a visit to a Texas detention facility on Tuesday.
Rep. Luz Rivas, D-Calif., said that seeing ICE’s actions was personal for her as the daughter of Mexican immigrants and argued that «for the people of the United States, we don’t want to see our government, or ICE officials, acting like domestic terrorists,» she said in Spanish during a press conference.
She said her Los Angeles district saw more ICE raids than anywhere else in her county.
Rivas was among a group of lawmakers led by Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, on a visit to an ICE facility in Dilley, Texas, which over 100 House Democrats have demanded to be shut down.
TRUMP ON VERGE OF SECURING $70B ICE FUNDING VICTORY AFTER HOUSE CLEARS HURDLE
ICE agents stand guard in front of protesters outside the federal immigration center at Delaney Hall in Newark, where ICE is housing detained immigrants on May 26, 2026, in Newark, New Jersey. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
The lawmakers accused the Trump administration of holding families, including a child as young as 2 months old, in inhumane conditions.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., a member of the left-wing «Squad,» also attacked President Donald Trump as a «dictator.»
SOMETHING TO HIDE? ICE UNDER FIRE FOR SUBSTANDARD CONDITIONS AT FOR-PROFIT DETENTION CENTER
«It’s so important that we not acquiesce to this, this fascist administration, this dictator in the Oval Office,» Pressley said. «History has shown us time again, appeasement does not work. The only way to beat a dictator is with defiance. The only way to beat fascism is to refuse to accept this segregated, divided, dark, dystopian view that they have for our country, is to reject it as an inevitability.»
She called on Americans to «resist, reject, condemn at every turn.»
Ayanna Pressley at the Featured Session «Repro Revolution: A Conversation with Rep. Ayanna Pressley» during the SXSW Conference & Festivals held at the Austin Convention Center on March 9, 2025, in Austin. (Amy E. Price/SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty Images)
But it’s that kind of rhetoric that Republicans have argued is responsible for sending tensions across the U.S. skyrocketing.
SPANBERGER’S ICE ROLLBACK TO BLAME FOR TODDLER KILLING, VIRGINIA ‘HOTBED’ OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIME: DHS
GOP allies of the president have accused Democrats of encouraging violence and resistance against ICE agents, drawing a line between encouragement to resist federal immigration officers and the slate of violent incidents involving those officers this year alone.
But Democrats are accusing ICE of acting as a rogue agency outside the bounds of the law.
«We have to abolish ICE. And then I’m going to take it one step further and say any of those agents that have contributed to and caused the injury, the harm, and even fatalities, they must also be held accountable,» Pressley said. «And we should abolish qualified immunity for these federal law enforcement officers.»
In a letter sent earlier this month, 111 House Democrats accused the administration of harming children and families with the conditions at the Dilley detention center.
«Parents describe horrendous conditions at Dilley, leading to severe depression, hopelessness, and suicidal ideation amongst their children. Children have reported that their food is often contaminated with worms and mold and that they feel sick after drinking tap water,» the letter said. «Families also report not being able to sleep at night because the lights are kept on in their rooms throughout the night. … Medical care provided by CoreCivic staff is delayed, denied, and in many cases outright dismissed, even when children are suffering life-threatening medical emergencies.»
In this Aug. 23, 2019, file photo, immigrants seeking asylum hold hands as they leave a cafeteria at the ICE South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas. (Eric Gay/AP Photo)
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Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for a response to Rivas’ comments.
DHS did previously accuse Democrats of lying about conditions at Dilley, which it said in a press release was specialized to hold families and care for children specifically.
«The Dilley facility is retrofitted for families. Children have access to teachers, classrooms, and curriculum booklets for math, reading, and spelling. They have access to age-appropriate books, toys, and outdoor activities. All of this is generously funded by the U.S. taxpayer,» DHS said.
«Infant care packages include formula, baby food, bottles, diapers, wipes, and hygiene items. The facility also provides sippy cups and cribs. Adults with children are housed in facilities that provide for their safety, security, and medical needs.»
illegal immigrants, deportation, homeland security, immigrant rights, politics
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The United States dramatically walked out as France addressed the United Nations (U.N.) Security Council Monday, escalating an extraordinary clash between the longtime allies after Paris claimed America was no longer a «beacon of human rights.»
The U.S. delegation left the chamber as French Ambassador Jérôme Bonnafont delivered remarks during a Security Council meeting on Ukraine, days after France’s U.N. mission in Geneva accused Washington of standing alongside North Korea, Nicaragua, Mali and Russia following a vote on the U.N.’s human rights chief.
Deputy U.S. Ambassador Dan Negrea accused France of «disingenuous grandstanding» and warned that American diplomats would continue walking out during French statements until Paris renounces what he called its «condescending and disrespectful rhetoric.»
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TOUTS MORE THAN $1B IN UN BUDGET CUTS AS REFORM PUSH GAINS MOMENTUM
Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Dan Negrea leaves the Security Council chamber as French Ambassador Jérôme Bonnafont speaks. ( U.S. Mission to the United Nations)
«Today, I remind them that it is the United States that remains the beacon of liberty for the world,» Negrea told the council. «As such, we will not be affording them the benefit of listening to their politicized drivel until they renounce their condescending and disrespectful rhetoric and behave in a manner commensurate with their seat on this council.»
The clash matters because the United States and France are among the world’s oldest allies, dating back to French support for the American Revolution, and today remain NATO partners and permanent members of the U.N. Security Council. Their cooperation is central to Western policy on Ukraine, European security and sanctions enforcement.
A French diplomat told Fox News Digital that the dispute should not be interpreted as a broader rupture between the longtime allies. «Differences in how we assess a vote do not call into question the quality of our relations or our ability to work together,» the diplomat said.
Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon backed Washington’s response and sharply criticized France.
«I think the behavior of France is shameful,» Danon told Fox News Digital Tuesday. «The U.S. is demonstrating moral clarity, standing for the real values of the U.N.»
Danon accused France and other European countries of supporting voices within the United Nations that undermine rather than advance human rights. «It’s about time to reform the U.N., and I want to thank the U.S. for showing leadership on that issue,» he said.
The confrontation marked a significant escalation from the unusually personal social media exchange that erupted after the General Assembly approved a second four-year term for U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.
Türk, an Austrian diplomat who has served as U.N. high commissioner for human rights since 2022, has drawn criticism from the United States and outside watchdogs over what they describe as uneven scrutiny of democracies and authoritarian governments. A 2024 analysis by UN Watch found that, among public country criticisms initiated by Türk or his office, he criticized the United States more often than China, North Korea, Cuba, Saudi Arabia and Qatar combined, while issuing no such criticism of several repressive governments during the period reviewed.
Türk’s supporters, including France and the European Union, argue that his willingness to criticize powerful democracies reflects the independence and universality required of the U.N.’s top human rights official.
France’s Geneva mission had declared that the United States was no longer a human rights leader and claimed «the world no longer listens to it» after Washington joined nine other countries in voting against Türk’s extension.
IRAN SECURES UN ROLE WITH BACKING FROM UK, FRANCE, CANADA, AUSTRALIA AS US STANDS ALONE
French Ambassador to the UN Jérôme Bonnafont (2L) and French President Emmanuel Macron (C) arrive for a United Nations Summit on Palestinians at U.N. headquarters during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on Sept. 22, 2025. (Ludovic MARIN / AFP via Getty Images)
U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz responded by accusing France of backing an official who lectures democracies while «cozying up to the world’s worst oppressors.»
Negrea went further Monday, invoking the history of the U.S.-French alliance and saying Washington had stood beside France whenever its freedom was threatened.
The United States had tolerated France’s «grandstanding» out of «a sense of camaraderie and mutual respect,» he said, but would no longer remain silent in the face of what he described as feigned French «moral outrage.»
Bonnafont did not directly address the walkout when he spoke again at the end of the meeting. Instead, he invoked the countries’ historic ties, noting that France helped the United States secure its independence and participated in celebrations marking America’s 250th anniversary. «This is the spirit of the relationship between France and the United States,» he said, before reaffirming France’s commitment to the U.N.’s work on peace, development and human rights.
AMERICANS ARE NOT GIVING UP ON NATO, BUT THEY EXPECT EUROPE TO DO ITS SHARE
High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk delivers a press conference at the UN Offices in Geneva on December 9, 2022. (FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP) (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images))
«The United Nations was created with the goal of working towards international peace and security, human rights and development,» Bonnafont said, adding that France would continue working to protect the institution’s independence and its ability to serve human rights and peace.
The dispute began after the General Assembly voted 144-10, with 13 abstentions, to extend Türk’s tenure through October 2030.
The United States had unsuccessfully sought an additional week for consultations, arguing that the vote was being rushed even though Türk’s current term does not expire until Oct. 11.
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U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Michael Waltz speaks with Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon before a meeting of the United Nations Security Council to consider a U.S. proposal for a U.N. mandate to establish an international stabilization force in Gaza, at U.N. headquarters in New York City, Nov. 17, 2025. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)
Washington also objected to Türk’s record. U.S. officials have accused him of disproportionately criticizing democracies, including the United States and Israel, while failing to confront authoritarian governments with the same urgency.
united nations, security council, france, world
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