War Room founder Steve Bannon recently sat down with Warpath Coffee founder Tej Gill to discuss the California fires. Their conversation focused on the apparent mismanagement of the crisis, with both men questioning whether the mishandling was a result of negligence—or something more intentional.
“This is the collapse of complex systems. This is where you have no order, you have no hierarchy, you have no teams that are not trained,” Bannon observed, highlighting what he believes to be a systemic failure in the response to the wildfires.
Gill shared a personal story:
“My grandparents and my mom had a house in Altadena, California. It burned down on Thursday, so it definitely hits home. It’s inexcusable—there is no water in the fire hydrants. They had a 117-million-gallon reservoir in Pacific Palisades, and you know what? It was empty. It’s crazy—and the mayor is in Africa. You know, a $17-million budget cut. It’s almost like you can’t make this stuff up. Was it intentional?”
Bannon echoed Gill’s sentiments, adding, “The incompetence couldn’t be that great that all this stuff—the fire hydrants hadn’t been tested and were empty. It’s just too much.”
Gill also pointed out how federal-level actions exacerbated the crisis:
“When Biden was in town, they grounded a lot of the firefighting aircraft so they couldn’t even fly and drop water on these fires because the President is in town and the airspace restrictions. It’s too many coincidences, and it’s right before Trump takes office.”
Both men criticized California’s political leadership. Bannon singled out Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, suggesting their handling of the situation speaks for itself:
“Don’t take it from me, don’t take it from Tej—watch the press conference, see it from their own lips.”
Gill expanded on the issue:
“These political dynasties run that state. The Brown family, the Pelosi family, the Newsom family—they’ve literally destroyed it. The people that built the state, the people that work hard—companies are leaving there in droves, people are leaving there in droves.”
Bannon and Gill also lamented the broader impact of California’s policies, describing them as destructive to what they called “the most beautiful state in the nation.”
