An Indian-American Congressman on Wednesday slammed President Donald Trump for accusing California authorities of not doing proper forest management, saying that his statement is factually incorrect.
Earlier in the day, Trump tweeted that he has directed his administration not to give any additional federal money to California for fighting wildfire.
Wildfire-prone California in recent weeks have seen dozens of people killed and hundreds of houses destroyed in a series of deadly fires, including the Camp Fire in November, which killed more than 80 people -- the worst fire in state history.
"Billions of dollars are sent to the State of California for Forest fires that, with proper Forest Management, would never happen. Unless they get their act together, which is unlikely, I have ordered FEMA to send no more money. It is a disgraceful situation in lives & money!" Trump tweeted.
Slamming the president for alleging the California authorities of wasting federal money by not properly managing wildfires, Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, who represents Silicon Valley in the House of Representatives, said, "This is a factually incorrect threat to citizens in California. The President has a responsibility to consult science and experts. His biggest flaw is not being aware of what he doesn't know."
Khanna, who was re-elected to the House of Representatives in the November mid-term polls, is a vocal critic of Trump. However, in recent weeks, he had supported a few policies of Trump, including withdrawal of US troops from Syria and partial withdrawal from Afghanistan.
California is considered as a Democratic stronghold and Trump is unlikely to get much vote during his 2020 re-election bid from the region. In the two years of his presidency, the California state has been leading in opposing Trump's policies, including those on illegal immigration and climate change.
It has filed several lawsuits against the Trump administration.
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