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Former IndyCar and NASCAR driver Danica Patrick has criticized California governor Gavin Newsom for the state's inability to combat the raging Los Angeles wildfires.
The wildfires spread across seven key locations - Palisades, Eaton, Hurst, Woodley, Olivas, Hollywood Hills and Woodland Hills (the Kenneth fire), taking the death toll to at least 10 people. As per NBC, over 180,000 people were ordered to evacuate their homes. It is estimated that the inferno has destroyed over 10,000 properties and 27,000 acres of land.
On Thursday (Jan. 9), Danica Patrick reacted to the California government's failed attempts at combating the disaster. She asked for Governor Gavin Newsom to resign.
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"Time for Newscum to be the next to announce his resignation," Patrick wrote in an X post.
Her tweet and the use of the word 'Newscum' came in the aftermath of President-elect Donald Trump, who she supports, using the same term in multiple posts on his social media platform, Truth Social. Trump bluntly lambasted the California governor and President Joe Biden in a post on Thursday, writing:
"Fire is spreading rapidly for 3 days — ZERO CONTAINMENT. Nobody has ever seen such failed numbers before! Gross incompetence by Gavin Newscum and Karen Bass….And Biden’s FEMA has no money — all wasted on the Green New Scam! L.A. is a total wipeout!!!"
Danica Patrick echoes Donald Trump as LA fire hydrants run out of water
On Thursday, an emotional LA woman confronted Gavin Newsom. She asked him why the fire hydrants had run out of water. He explained that the hydrants were not equipped to handle so many fires of such magnitude. Shortly before that, Donald Trump had aggressively advised Newsom on Truth Social about water management. He wrote:
"Governor Gavin Newscum should immediately go to Northern California and open up the water main, and let the water flow into his dry, starving, burning State, instead of having it go out into the Pacific Ocean. It ought to be done right now, NO MORE EXCUSES FROM THIS INCOMPETENT GOVERNOR. IT’S ALREADY FAR TOO LATE!"
A few hours later, Danica Patrick, who advocated for Trump in the 2025 presidential elections, shared a similar post on her X account, demanding accountability for the mismanagement of water resources.
"California has 840 miles of coast line and 3,000 lakes and reservoirs. Why don’t they have enough water to fix any and all fires? At some point I have to imagine it’s getting difficult for hardcore cali lovers to accept the state of their state and how it’s managed," the 42-year-old wrote.
Danica Patrick leveraged her Instagram following of 961K people by resharing a post by The Dodo on her Story to create awareness about Pasadena Humane, a non-profit organization helping animals affected by the California wildfires.
Over the last four days of the disaster, celebrities like Mel Gibson, Paris Hilton, James Woods, John Goodman, Billy Crystal and more have lost their homes. Former IndyCar driver Townsend Bell lost two houses as well.
