Reporter David Blevins from Sky News approached Bass as she was coming off her plane on her way back from a visit to Ghana, where she was celebrating the inauguration of President John Dramani Mahama. In a 90-second exchange, Bass stared blankly as Blevins peppered her with questions about what have become the most destructive fires in Los Angeles history, offering no answers.

“Do you owe citizens an apology for being absent while their homes were burning? Do you regret cutting the fire department budget by millions of dollars madame mayor?” Blevins asked to no response.

“Have you nothing to say today? Have you absolutely nothing to say to the citizens today?” he continued, offering a pause for a response to no avail.

Blevins asked 10 questions in total, but not one was answered. He presented her with Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s comments, in which he called her “utterly incompetent.”

“Are you considering your position?” Blevins asked, again to no response.

Bass eventually walked away with an assistant. The interaction went viral, with viewers equally praising the journalist’s work and excoriating Bass.

“This is the most damning video of a politician being questioned during a disaster that I’ve ever seen,” conservative activist Robby Starbuck said.

Bass’s absence during the fires and previous cuts to the fire department earned her scorching criticism from Los Angeles residents, even within her own party.

City figures reveal that Bass instituted sweeping budget cuts for the fire department in the city’s 2025 fiscal budget. Her original proposal advocated cutting the fire department’s budget by $23 million, with the final cut being $17.6 million.

Five people have been reported dead while tens of thousands more have been evacuated. Over 1,000 structures have been lit ablaze. Old infrastructure was blamed for some areas quickly running out of water, leaving firefighters powerless to stop the inferno.

Bass finally gave a press conference shortly after 5 p.m. local time, praising the work of firefighters and warning that more evacuation orders could be forthcoming. She urged residents to conserve water, as firefighters needed all they could get.

“This firestorm is the big one in magnitude,” she said. “Hurricane-force winds are usually accompanied by rainstorms, but these are hurricane-force winds that are combined with extremely dry, drought conditions.”

Bass reported that the Palisades Fire grew from 10 acres to 200 acres in just 12 minutes.