Alert – Mel Gibson’s blistering attack on Gavin Newsom in surprise speech

Mel Gibson lashed out at California Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday as he threw his weight behind an attempt to recall the politician.

Gibson, 69, lambasted the 57-year-old Democrat at a press conference held for SavingCalifornia.vote, a political action group trying to marshal to recall Newsom after last month’s apocalyptic wildfires in Los Angeles and surrounding areas, which reduced Gibson’s Malibu home to rubble.

The Academy Award–winning actor and filmmaker was particularly incensed by Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ response to January’s LA Fires. 

‘Was it incompetence? Was it indifference? Complacency? Carelessness? Was it negligence? Absolutely,’ said Gibson of the Democratic politician’s efforts, via the New York Post.

The fires, which began in Pacific Palisades and Altadena, ultimately destroyed nearly 13,000 homes, and at least 29 people died as a result of the fires.

‘There are many who say it is criminal negligence,’ Gibson fumed in front of a crowd of the recall effort’s supporters. ‘Do the mayor and the governor give a damn about you? Hell no!’

Mel Gibson, 69, lambasted California Governor Gavin Newsom, 57, at a press conference held for SavingCalifornia.vote, a political action group trying to marshal support for a recall; seen in September in LA

‘Was it incompetence? Was it indifference? Complacency? Carelessness? Was it negligence? Absolutely,’ said Gibson of the Democratic politician’s efforts, via the New York Post; Newsom pictured January 28 in LA

The fires, which began in Pacific Palisades and Altadena, ultimately destroyed nearly 13,000 homes, and at least 29 people died as a result of the fires; a burned-out structure pictured in Pacific Palisades on January 11

The Passion Of The Christ director — who allegedly ranted that ‘the Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world’ after he was pulled over for drunk driving in 2006 — went on to mock Newsom’s recovery plans in the wake of the the LA Fires.

‘[Newsom] is gonna “build back better.” That’s a catchy little phrase,’ he said. ‘I have another “B” word there. It’s called “bullls***.’

In a statement responding to the recall effort, Newsom’s office accused the pro-recall forces of ‘[sinking] to a new low’ by ‘exploiting the victims of the LA fires for political gain.’

‘Here’s the worst part: Their partisan recall will waste 200 million taxpayer dollars desperately needed for emergency preparedness and response,’ his office added.

Earlier this week, SavingCalifornia.vote got the OK to start sending out a petition calling for Governor Newsom’s recall. 

In order to get a vote on the matter schedule, the group must collect around 15 million signatures within 160 days. 

That figure represents 12 percent of all votes from 2022 gubernatorial election, which saw Newsom win by defeating Republican State Senator Brian Dahle with 59.2 percent of the vote. 

Although that percentage would be a landslide win in many states, by the standards of reliably blue California it was an underperformance, as no Democratic gubernatorial nominee has won with less than 60 percent of the vote since 2010.

‘There are many who say it is criminal negligence,’ Gibson fumed in front of a crowd of the recall effort’s supporters. ‘Do the mayor and the governor give a damn about you? Hell no!’; seen February 7 in Orlando, Fla.

The Passion Of The Christ director went on to mock Newsom’s recovery plans in the wake of the the LA Fires. ‘[Newsom] is gonna “build back better.” That’s a catchy little phrase,’ he said. ‘I have another “B” word there. It’s called “bullls***’; seen in September in LA

Newsom was first elected governor in 2019, then reelected in 2022. He survived a recall election in 2021 after only 38% of voters opted to recall him; seen February 11 in Altadena, Calif.

Prior to first being elected governor of California in 2019, Newsom served as the state’s lieutenant governor from 2011 to 2019. 

He previously held local office in San Francisco for years, first as a member of the city’s board of supervisors from 1997 to 2004, and then as the Mayor of San Francisco from 2004 to 2011.

Newsom previously fended off a recall in 2021. After pro-recall forces amassed enough signatures to schedule a vote for September of that year, he managed to keep his job when the recall option won only 38 percent of the vote.

The next California gubernatorial election will be held in 2026, so even if a recall election is held and Newsom is kicked out of office, the winner of a recall election would only serve for a year before the next election.

However, Randy Economy, a conservative radio host and the SavingCalifornia.vote chairman, said the new recall effort was worth pursuing because of Newsom’s other alleged failings. 

‘This recall is different because Newsom himself is different — he’s become completely disconnected from the reality of everyday Californians struggling to survive in the state he’s mismanaging,’ said Economy.

Shortly after the LA Fires broke out, Gibson appeared on The Joe Rogan Show and criticized Newsom for failing to ‘take care of the forest and maintain the forest,’ despite the fact that the fires all started in urban environments.

Gibson spoke in apocalyptic terms, warning the controversial podcaster that society was heading toward a ‘collapse.’ 

Shortly after the LA Fires broke out, Gibson appeared on The Joe Rogan Show and criticized Newsom for failing to ‘take care of the forest and maintain the forest,’ despite the fact that the fires all started in urban environments

According to the Apocalypto director, ‘All those earmarks, the precursors of a collapse, they’re present in our time. It doesn’t take long.’

Gibson referred in his chat to Jared Diamond’s 2011 book Collapse: How Societies Choose To Fail Or Succeed.

‘It says all the things you need for a civilization to cave in and collapse,’ Gibson said of the book. ‘It’s an interesting observation. And we’re no smarter than our grandparents.’ 

Despite losing his Malibu home, Gibson clarified that he isn’t in any danger of being homeless, as he boasted he has another home in Costa Rica.

‘I love it there,’ he said after Rogan asked if the ongoing fires would be the final straw for him to finally move out of California.

Later, Gibson joked that he might get ‘a new house’ out of the crisis.

Ironically, the restaurant and bar where the actor allegedly got drunk before his infamous antisemitic rant in 2006, Moonshadows Malibu, was a victim of the blaze, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Gibson reserved much of his fury for the fires for Newsom. 

Gibson recently returned to filmmaking with the release of his action thriller Flight Risk, which stars Mark Wahlberg as a hitman posing as a pilot transporting a US Marshal and a federal informant

The film received poor reviews, earning only a 24 percent rotten rating from the most prestigious critics surveyed by Rotten Tomatoes, and grossing just shy of $42M against a $25M budget; pictured with daughter Lucia and son Lars in September in LA

‘I think Newsom said, “I’m gonna take care of the forest and maintain the forest and do all that kinda stuff” — he didn’t do anything,’ he complained.

The Braveheart director agreed with the host before joking: ‘I think all our tax dollars probably went to Gavin’s hair gel.’ 

Rogan chimed in that he believes that the California Governor had put tax dollars toward supporting the homeless  population instead of fire prevention. 

Gibson recently returned to filmmaking with the release of his action thriller Flight Risk. 

The film stars Mark Wahlberg as the pilot of a small private plane tasked with transporting a US Marshal (Downton Abbey star Michelle Dockery) and an account-turned-informant (Topher Grace) set to testify against a powerful crime family.

But Wahlberg’s pilot turns out to be an assassin hired by the crime family, leaving his passengers without a pilot they can trust.

The film received poor reviews, earning only a 24 percent rotten rating from the most prestigious critics surveyed by Rotten Tomatoes.

So far, it has grossed just shy of $42 million against a $25 million budget.