California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass have faced sharp criticism from their opponents and some residents over their preparations for and handling of the devastating wildfires gripping the state.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) refused to respond to a reporter’s questions on whether she regrets traveling to West Africa amid intensifying extreme weather warnings in her city, which ultimately led to the most destructive wildfire in LA’s history.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is facing backlash as wildfires continue to burn across Southern California. But why is she facing political heat?

L.A. is scared, seething and looking for a scapegoat — and who better than a mayor who jetted to another continent despite warnings that devastating winds were about to blast through a region that hasn’t seen substantial rainfall in months?

"We, the undersigned residents of Los Angeles and concerned citizens, urgently call for the immediate recall of Mayor Karen Bass due to her gross mismanagement and failure to effectively respond to the devastating 2025 fires in and around the city of Los Angeles," the petition states.

Mayor Karen Bass promised in 2021 that she would not travel abroad if elected to lead Los Angeles, according to the New York Times. She traveled to Ghana last week to attend the presidential

The 53-year-old actress has lived in the City of Angels for nearly three decades but couldn’t recall another mayor facing the same scrutiny as Bass, suggesting the criticism stemmed from

Less than two weeks after the start of what has become one of the state’s most destructive natural disasters, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass continues to face backlash for her response to the Southern California wildfires, with critics demanding her resignation and some even floating a recall effort.

The Mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, had promised before taking office that she would not travel abroad. However, Bass was out of the country when devastating fires broke out, specifically in Ghana.

Bass has faced widespread outrage over her whereabouts after returning to Los Angeles from Ghana on Wednesday, 24 hours after fires ignited.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) is coming under criticism for being on a trip out of the country as wildfires rip through parts of the Southern California city. President-elect Trump adviser

Murmurs of recalls are swirling in California, where the state and local response to the L.A. wildfires has led to bipartisan anger at the governor and mayor.