Zachary Levi: Gavin Newsom Could Be ‘Criminally Negligent,’ Some of the Worst Fires in California Are Under His Watch

WATTERS: “All right, Zach, what is going on out there?”
LEVI: “Hey, how are you doing there? Listen, you know, I don’t — I can’t — I wish I could explain it. I think the first thing I wanted to say, though, most importantly, I think we should be holding every single person in southern California, everybody affected by these fires, we should be holding them in prayer, sending them as much love and light and support as we can, to everybody who is being affected right now. This the most devastating fire in Los Angeles history. My family is from Ventura, California, I grew up there most my life and then I was in L.A. for 15 years, this is very personal. The Thomas fire ravaged Ventura in 2017 and it was so gnarly and they’re still picking up the pieces from that fire. So this is just — it is catastrophic. Looking at the news, I’m in Austin, Texas, and I’m watching the news, it looks like I’m watching a post-apocalyptic war film, it’s so sad. And ultimately, why we have ended up in this place? I mean I have been hearing you on your show leading into the segment, I mean, I think you are hitting a lot of it on the head. This is just incredible mismanagement, incredibly poor leadership. I would go so far as to say that it’s criminally negligent, because, I mean, Gavin Newsom has been either the governor for five years or lieutenant governor prior to that for eight or nine years. Some of the worst fire as we have ever had in California under that watch. He clearly knows that the biggest problem that we suffer in California are these fires and, by the way, the mudslides that follow. And for them to do, essentially, not just nothing, but worse than nothing, when firefighter budgets are being cut, when they are specifically, intentionally not doing the work that could be done to avoid these problems or to be able to effectively serve them when they are happening, we are losing — I mean, I think it’s something like millions of acres of feet of water runoff from rain and snow every year in California. As you pointed out. I think the smelt have something to do with that. That’s — an acre foot of water, by the way, is about 330,000 gallons of water. And there is millions of those that are just rolling off into the ocean when they could be captured in cisterns. We could have an ecosystem of hoses and safety measures that can keep all of these homes and people in these homes safe, and for some reason they choose to do None of that. And at some point it goes beyond just whoopsie. At some point it goes beyond negligence. There is something that’s almost criminally intentional about this. What are they doing? I don’t know.”
WATTERS: “You mention criminal intent and you mention criminal negligence. Because California can build anything. I mean, look at Silicon Valley, look at Hollywood. If they want to do something, California can do it. But you haven’t built a single reservoir in 10 years? You’re just letting water run into the Pacific because of what, a fish that no one has heard of? Does anybody care about the smelt fish?”
LEVI: “I mean, listen, I think that both can be true. I think we can care about the smelt fish and we can care about our environment, and also be able to value human life and the wonderful cities and civilizations that we have built and find some kind of balance in all of that. Even still, with the smelt, there’s no reason why we couldn’t have safeguards to prevent what is going on right now. This is just — it’s absurd. But I would say, at the end of the day, like I said, I don’t know if there is criminal intent. I have no idea why they are doing or not doing the things that they are doing. But they must be held responsible. This is not good leadership. And listen, this is the man who, in the middle of the pandemic, when people were being locked up for going to gathering together, he was at French Laundry having dinner with his friends. What does that say about the character of this man who’s doing nothing to help the people of California? I don’t believe that he is. I don’t believe that he is. So I think that there needs to be some kind of accountability that is held to the leadership, not just of California but also of our nation. I mean, listen, there are still people in eastern North Carolina that are still climbing out of the rubble of the hurricane that totally ravaged all of them in Florida and North Carolina and South Carolina. That is still happening and FEMA are completely dropping the ball there. What’s going to happen now with southern California? Is FEMA going to be there? By the way, one of the things that is almost most criminal in all of this, I don’t know if you know this, but 70% or so of the insured in southern California that used to have fire insurance in their home months ago, this insurance was taken away. The insurance company said, ‘No, we are not going to offer fire insurance anymore.’ They don’t need flood insurance, they need fire insurance. This is a fire hazard, of course that’s the insurance that they need and want. And just months ago this was stripped from people. Like, this is not okay. It is not okay in any way, shape or form.”
WATTERS: “Yeah, I’m hearing that State Farm yanked their coverage because regulators in California would not let them raise rates, so now millions of people do not have fire insurance and they have lost their homes and have nothing. And you are right. You mentioned North Carolina. Remember the Maui fires, still devastation. And they were staying in five-star luxury resorts, FEMA was. So we expect more, we expect better, we expect dignity and competence in the United States of America. That is not too much to ask. I know there has been a recall in California, but there might have to be something else to hold Gavin Newsom accountable, a trial, a public humiliation, because if this isn’t enough to step down as governor, if you had a little honor, I think that’s what it calls for. Zach, great talking to you.”
LEVI: “You as well. You as well.”
WATTERS: “Appreciate it. I hope you and your family are okay.”