On Monday, January 13, 2025, Vice President Kamala Harris left those affected by the Los Angeles, California wildfires in a state of confusion following her puzzling statement during a White House briefing. These wildfires have resulted in 25 fatalities and thousands losing their homes.

Attempting to offer solace to Californians who lost their homes and were eager to return to their neighborhoods, Harris said, “It’s critically important that, to the extent you can find anything that gives you an ability to be patient in this extremely dangerous and unprecedented crisis, that you do.” Her response, however, immediately spurred derision on the internet.

The Vice President’s statement, marked by its complexity, was the latest in a series of public pronouncements that have been difficult to decipher. This has been a consistent characteristic of her tenure in office. One internet user made light of Harris’s statement by referring to one of her previous famous verbal errors.

Her complex response comes amid wildfires ravaging over 40,000 acres in Southern California. The Pacific Palisades neighborhood suffered severe damage after all three Los Angeles Water and Power Department water tanks dried up within hours of the fire’s start. Fire officials confirmed that the loss of water pressure rendered them virtually helpless in protecting homes during the early stages of the fire.

Observers characterized her response as “tone-deaf” and “stunningly inappropriate” in a crisis where clear communication is crucial. Experts in emergency management noted that crisis communication should prioritize clarity and directness, elements that were noticeably missing from the Vice President’s comments.

For Harris, the situation hits close to home as her residence in Brentwood, California, is within an evacuation zone. She canceled her final foreign trip as Vice President to Singapore, Bahrain, and Germany scheduled for January 13-17. This mirrored President Biden’s cancellation of his planned trips to Rome and Ukraine.

As the wildfires continue to rage, 88,000 Californians are under mandatory evacuation orders. Emergency teams are scrambling to control the fires that have turned thousands of homes into ashes. Neighborhoods have been wiped out, leaving residents with no option but to heed Harris’s advice to “find anything that gives you an ability to be patient.”

Supporters of President-elect Donald Trump capitalized on Harris’s latest verbal error, arguing that the recent election results saved the country from potential disaster. One Trump supporter sarcastically wrote, “Yes. Be patient,” and added, “Competent leadership will be here in one week.” Another stated, “word salads are off the menu after January 20th,” referring to Trump’s impending inauguration.

Throughout Harris’s failed 2024 presidential campaign, critics maintained that her proclivity for verbose, unclear statements indicated deeper issues with her leadership abilities. Her latest comments to the fire victims have only amplified these criticisms as her term in office nears its end.

In the meantime, weather forecasters predict more dangerous high winds, potentially exacerbating firefighting efforts. The federal government has pledged to cover 100% of firefighting costs for 180 days as emergency operations centers coordinate what may be one of their final major crisis responses under the current administration.