Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass spent Tuesday in Africa as part of a taxpayer-funded delegation attending the inauguration of John Dramani Mahama as Ghana’s president. The Democrat was there as her city battled wildfires and thousands of residents fled for their lives.
CNS News reports Shalanda D. Young, the director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, headed the delegation to Accra, Ghana’s capital.
It also consisted of Virginia E. Palmer, the U.S. ambassador to Ghana, and Frances Z. Brown, special assistant to the president and the National Security Council’s senior director for African affairs alongside Bass.
As Breitbart New reported, the absence of Karen Bass came as the fast-burning wildfire that broke out in the mountains above Pacific Palisades amid extreme high winds on Tuesday morning threatened homes and the local public school, which was evacuated.
California has deployed more than 1,400 firefighting personnel to combat the blazes.
Officials didn’t give an estimate of structures damaged or destroyed in the Pacific Palisades wildfire, but they said about 30,000 residents were under evacuation orders and more than 13,000 structures were under threat.
Lifelong Democrat Bass was elected to office in 2022.
Plenty of social media users vented their frustration that Bass was abroad on “diplomatic duties” while L.A. residents fought for their very lives.
California firefighters are prepared for the wildfire situation to worsen early Wednesday.
Flames were being pushed by Santa Ana winds topping 60 mph in some places.
The winds were expected to increase overnight, producing isolated gusts that could top 100 mph in mountains and foothills — including in areas that haven’t seen substantial rain in months.
