Mel Gibson, actor and director, publicly criticized California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Monday, calling them โincompetentโ and urging Angelenos to vote them out according to Patch.
Gibson made the remarks during an interview with Raymond Arroyo on Arroyoโs podcast, which was also broadcast on Fox News and posted to YouTube. The comments came amid ongoing anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles.
โGavin Newsom and Karen Bass have already proven their incompetence and poor leadership during the Los Angeles wildfires,โ Gibson said during the recorded interview.
Gibson, known for directing Braveheart (1995) and The Passion of the Christ (2004), as well as starring in the Mad Max and Lethal Weapon franchises, has long been outspoken about his political views and support for President Donald Trump. He was previously named a โspecial ambassador to Hollywoodโ by Trump before the 2017 inauguration.
The actor, who faced public scrutiny following a 2006 drunk driving arrest and antisemitic remarks, continued his criticism of California leadership.
โNow, as we experience rampant lawlessness and civil unrest, itโs never been more clear โ California is in a state of turmoil,โ he said. โAnd I ask my fellow Angelenos why Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass are still in office. How much more of their destructive decision-making masquerading as leadership are we going to tolerate?โ
He urged voters to โtake back our community and our state and put the power and the privilege in the hands of competent leaders whose goals are to protect us and the way of life this nation was founded upon and promises to offer.โ
Raymond Arroyo echoed Gibsonโs comments during a Fox News broadcast alongside Kayleigh McEnany, saying, โNewsomโs out there saying that Donald Trump… โis an authoritarian, a threat to democracy.โ No, lawlessness and anarchy that youโre fueling, that is a threat to democracy. That is indeed the ultimate undermining of democracy, when you canโt protect your people.โ
Governor Gavin Newsom has not directly responded to Gibsonโs comments. In a separate statement to Fox News, he blamed Trump for unrest in Los Angeles and criticized the deployment of federal troops.
โThe deployment of federal soldiers in L.A. doesnโt protect our communities โ it traumatizes them… this is not public safety, this is tyranny,โ Newsom said, as he awaited a federal appeals court ruling on the legality of the California National Guard deployment.
This is not Gibsonโs first public rebuke of state leadership. After losing his home in the Los Angeles wildfires earlier this year, he again blamed Newsom and Bass.
โGov. Newsom and Karen Bass let us all down,โ he said. โCalifornia was ill-prepared and had scant resources to deal with the inevitable fires. They knew that. So are we supposed to believe our elected officials didnโt know that?โ
In the lead-up to Trumpโs presidency, Gibson, along with Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone, was named one of Trumpโs โspecial ambassadors to Hollywood.โ Trump described the trio as his โeyes and ears,โ pledging to support U.S. film production and revive a new โGolden Age of Hollywood.โ
However, according to later reports, the initiative yielded little follow-through, with few in the industry hearing from the ambassadors.
More recently, Jon Voight publicly criticized Newsom, calling him a โlying dogโ and a โfoolโ in an online video.
โWhat are you doing for the destruction of these animals destroying Los Angeles? Are you there, talking calmly with them, you fool! They would burn you down like theyโre burning the cars and the American flag, with no regard for humanity. This is not about Trump. This is about protecting the people from these animals and criminals trying to destroy us,โ Voight said.
