Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass previously told the New York Times in 2021 that she did not plan to travel abroad during the city’s mayoral election, as reported by the newspaper on Sunday.
Bass said that in 2021 if he wins his election, “I will not only live here, but I will also not travel internationally – the places I will go to will be DC, Sacramento, San Francisco and New York, in relation to LA,” reported the Times.
The mayor was traveling in Ghana as fires ravaged Los Angeles last week, and upon his return, Bass ignored reporters’ questions about his absence.
Bass has served in Congress, particularly on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and spent several years working on US-Africa relations, according to the Times.
CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES: IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS FOR LOS ANGELES RESIDENTS AND HOW TO HELP
Rep. Karen Bass, a candidate for mayor of Los Angeles, meets with various prominent supporters at Angel’s Point in Elysian Park on May 27, 2022, in Los Angeles, California. ((Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
The Times reported, “That vow has been spectacularly broken.”
Bass has traveled to four countries since becoming Mayor, the Times reported, once to Mexico and three times to Paris for the Olympics.
“Do you owe the citizens an apology for not being there when their homes burned down? And do you regret cutting the Fire Department’s budget by millions of dollars, Mrs. Sodhaba?” Sky News reporter David Blevins asked as Bass waited to land on Wednesday following his trip to Ghana.
“You have absolutely nothing to say to the citizens today?” he added.
Bass refused to acknowledge the reporter, and continued to ignore the questions.
“Aren’t you sorry to them? Do you think you should have visited Ghana when this happened at home?” he said.
“The mayor is focused on two things right now – keeping Angelenos safe and protecting property. He has secured the federal, state and local resources we need to continue fighting these fires and moving forward with the above plan for recovery,” said Bass spokesman Zach Seidl in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE NEWS AND CULTURE
LA Mayor Karen Bass and City Executive Matt Szabo presented the 2024-25 budget at City Hall. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Bass was also called a 2021 social media site calling Sen. Ted Cruz for being away from his state while Texas was dealing with a winter storm.
Bass told reporters during a news conference Wednesday that he had been communicating with people on his flight back to LA.
“I was on the phone, on the plane, almost every hour of the flight,” he said. “So even though I wasn’t here physically, I was in contact with a lot of people who were standing here the whole time. When my plane landed, I immediately went to the fire station and saw what was happening in Pacific Palisades.”
CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS PROGRAM
Fox News’ Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
Source link
