HBO’s Bill Maher Rips LA Mayor Bass, Labels Her ‘Nero’ As City Burned

Notable liberal comedian Bill Maher opened the new season of his HBO show on Friday with sharp criticism of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, comparing her to “Nero,” the infamous Roman emperor who allegedly “fiddled” while Rome burned.

During his monologue, Maher didn’t hold back as he lambasted both Bass and California’s top Democrat, Gov. Gavin Newsom, for their handling of wildfires that ravaged thousands of homes, including entire neighborhoods like the affluent Pacific Palisades.

“Axios ran a story on how getting the water out of the hydrants in Pacific Palisades was more complicated than it seems. I’m sure it is. I’m sure it’s very complicated. That’s why I pay 13% of my income in this state every year to people who I assumed were working on things like this,” Maher quipped.

“When asked why so many of the hydrants in the Palisades ran out of water, Governor Newsom said the local folks are trying to figure that out. Yeah, you got to do that before the fire,” he remarked. “At least in the Palisades, the hydrants were still there. 300 other ones around the city are just gone, stolen. For parts. One of the three reservoirs for the Palisades was offline at the one time of year when it was most needed,” Maher added.

Under a chyron that read, “Welcome To The Bungle,” Maher then took aim at Bass, highlighting her trip to Ghana during the fires and her decision to cut the LA Fire Department’s budget the previous year. He dubbed her the “Nero of American politics.”

“LA’s mayor, Karen Bass, the Nero of American politics, was fiddling in Ghana while the city burned and later placed the blame on eight months of negligible rain and winds that have not been seen in L.A. in at least 14 years. Yeah. That’s not that long a time,” he remarked. “Maybe look in the history books to see how our ancestors handled it back in 2011.”

He also referenced her comments on the fire department budget cuts. “The mayor said about cuts to the fire department’s budget, ‘There were no reductions that were made that would have impact in this situation.’ The fire chief here had a slightly different take,” he continued.

“We are screaming to be properly funded. And yes, the budget was cut, and it did impact our ability to provide service. And by the looks of all the fire engines in the bone yard, out of service because we didn’t fix them, she’s right,” Maher said.

Turning to the issue of taxes, Maher described California as the “place that spends money and gets nothing.”

“We have the highest marginal tax rate in America, higher than almost all other states and soon Greenland. What is included for that? Breadsticks? Because it clearly doesn’t cover fire,” he commented.

“That’s government’s job. Protect us from crime, violence, theft, fire. I’m not saying Alabama would have done better with fires by fighting them with prayer in school, but look me in the eye and tell me anyone could have done worse. We just got our ass kicked by fire. Something Neanderthals fought to a tie,” Maher joked.

Maher stressed that Los Angeles residents shouldn’t have to pay more taxes to secure better fire protection, arguing that city and state Democrats need to “prioritize” spending on critical services like fire prevention.

However, not all Democrats share his view.

Rep. Maxine Waters, who represents parts of Los Angeles, expressed a different perspective during an interview with NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo. Waters, a multimillionaire herself, defended higher taxes on the wealthy as necessary to fund services for combating wildfires.

“The first thing we’ve got to understand is, services cost money, and we should be willing to get the richest people in this country, the richest 1% that is protected, make sure they pay their fair taxes so that we can have the money to provide the services,” she argued.