Social Media Users Shut Down GOP Senator Over His Out-Of-Control Disasters Claim

Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) took to Fox Business on Thursday to declare that wildfires that wreaked havoc on Los Angeles could have been “controlled” as he challenged California officials’ disaster preparedness.

“You can’t control a hurricane in western North Carolina. You can’t control a hurricane that dumps up to 40 inches of rain in the mountains. So it’s absolutely different,” argued Budd, whose home state was hit hard by Hurricane Helene last year.

“One could have been prevented with good government; one could not. And we’re going to get North Carolina back on track, and hopefully California will as well. But again, hopefully they’ll realize the lesson of bad leadership over and over at a local and a state level,” he added.

Experts have noted that extreme winds ― and large fires burning simultaneously ― posed challenges to fighting the blazes, which have killed at least 27 people and destroyed over 12,000 structures in parts of Los Angeles.

Officials are warning of another round of high winds that could return to the area next week.

Stefan Doerr, a wildland fire science professor at Swansea University in Wales, told Business Insider last week that putting out fires like those that burned in the city was “essentially impossible” unless the winds died down.

Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony C. Marrone, in a press conference last week, told reporters that his department “was prepared for one or two major brush fires, but not four, especially given the sustained winds and low abilities” amid the disaster.

Social media users on X (formerly Twitter), including Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), agreed with the Republican that hurricanes “can’t be controlled” before shutting down his fires claim.

“I want to let you know that the specific fires that exploded last week occurred during hurricane force Santa Ana winds of up to 100 mph. That’s why those fires also could not be controlled,” wrote Lieu, who attached a video of a McDonald’s sign getting smacked by high winds as trees burned around it.

Another X user posted a video of palm trees on fire as high winds sent sparks flying into the air.

“How is the government supposed to control winds like this?” the user wrote. “This is a disgusting lie.”

Check out those and more reactions in the posts below.