()California leaders Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA mayor Karen Bass have been in the line of fire as President-elect Donald Trump and others have slammed their handling of the LA wildfires including lack in water supply.

The two have been fielding a political firestorm and a torrent of criticism including why Bass was out of the country and why Newsom didn’t do more to buttress the water system.

More than 35,000 acres have been burned in total as wildfires continue to rage across the Los Angeles area, and at least 10 people have died. Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Friday that 153,000 residents are still under evacuation orders, and 16,000 are under evacuation warnings.

While the two have been trying to keep attention on the rescue efforts, verbal shots continue to be fired.

“I’ve never seen anything like that devastation and we’re talking about homes that cost $200, 300- $400 million. Very influential people worldwide and I don’t know that they will ever go back either, because they weren’t happy with California. They weren’t happy with Gavin Newsom,” Trump said in news conference Thursday. 

Newsom and Bass slammed 

Trump seized upon the water management issues to call out long-time critic Newsom on his Truth Social account.

“Governor Gavin Newscum should immediately go to Northern California and open up the water main, and let the water flow into his dry, starving, burning State,” the president-elect wrote.

The water system used to fight LA wildfires buckled under the demands of massive wildfires with some hydrants running dry as they were overstressed without assistance from firefighting aircraft for hours early Wednesday.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power was pumping from aqueducts and groundwater into the system, but demand was so high that it wasn’t enough to refill three 1-million gallon tanks in Pacific Palisades that help pressurize hydrants for the neighborhood.

Trump alleged Newsom refused to sign a “water restoration declaration” that allowed water to flow into the area. 

Newsom’s office said there is “no such document as the water restoration declaration.” 

Bass was slammed for not being in the country when the fires broke out. The mayor was in Ghana attending the inauguration of President John Dramani Mahama as part of a U.S. presidential delegation when wildfires rapidly erupted this week.

Rick Caruso, a former mayoral candidate, slammed Bass for being overseas. It was “an absolute mismanagement by the city” because this was “a disaster waiting to happen, and what’s predictable is preventable,” Caruso told Fox 11.

Even the left joined in.

“Inexplicable decision to not come back earlier,” Tommy Vietor, a former Obama staffer and Pod Save America host, wrote on X.

Newsom and Bass say Trump politicizing a disaster 

Both California leaders have said Trump and others have been politicizing the crisis, instead of focusing on saving lives and homes.

The governor’s office quickly decried Trump’s accusations as “pure fiction,” writing on social platform X that “there is no such document as the water restoration declaration” and that Newsom “is focused on protecting people, not playing politics, and making sure firefighters have all the resources they need.”

“People are literally fleeing. People have lost their lives. Kids lost their schools. Families completely torn asunder. Churches burned down. And this guy wanted to politicize it,” Newsom said of Trump on CNN. 

Bass has stayed largely mum when fielding questions about the criticism she’s getting. 

During a news conference on Thursday, she said was currently focused only on saving lives, and said any evaluation of mistakes or failures by “any body, department, individual” would come later.

Biden is backing California leadership 

Biden has stood behind both Newsom and Bass offering federal help in the wildfire response. 

Biden said the federal government will cover “100 percent of all the costs” for 180 days from the wildfires. He said that includes first responder’s salaries and all measures to protect life and property. 

Biden also directed the Pentagon to provide any firefighting resources the area needs, including helicopters to help suppress the flames. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin authorized 500 wildfire ground-clearing personnel to assist local first responders. 

President Biden canceled a planned visit to Italy, where he was to meet with Pope Francis and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in order to monitor the ongoing fires. 

The Associated Press contributed to this story.