Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is facing criticism after she accused mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt of "exploiting" the Palisades fire tragedy for political gain, comments that drew swift backlash from Republican voices and political strategists in Los Angeles.

Pratt, a former reality television star best known for his role on "The Hills," has been running advertisements criticizing Bass's handling of the January 2025 Palisades wildfire that destroyed both his home and his parents' residence. During an interview with MeidasTouch, Bass said she had never heard of Pratt before his anti-Bass ads gained traction online.

"The thing I am concerned and feel about him is that I feel like he's exploiting the grief of people in the Palisades and I just think that's just reprehensible," Bass said during the interview. "That's the main thing and I think he is about his own celebrity — he's famous now again."

Bass argued that her experience leading the city's response during the disaster, combined with her federal-level service in Congress, made her better qualified than Pratt to serve as mayor. She suggested Pratt could benefit from taking a civics class to understand how government works.

The mayor attributed the scale of destruction to climate change during the interview. "These fires — it was the worst natural disaster that we experienced in our city," Bass said. "At the root of it, you know, we have to get adjusted to just like everybody else in the nation to different weather experiences that we're not used to because of climate change."

Bass's office did not provide additional comment when reached by Fox News Digital.

What the Right Is Saying

Roxanne Hoge, Chairwoman of the Los Angeles Republican Party, called Bass's remarks a significant misstep in an interview with Fox News Digital.

"For a longtime politician, I am godsmacked by Karen Bass' absolute tone deafness in attacking a survivor of the Palisades fire in this way," Hoge said.

Elizabeth Barcohana, an attorney and political strategist in Los Angeles, argued that Pratt's campaign had surfaced important questions about city governance. "It is only thanks to Pratt that we know why Bass was unprepared for the Palisades fire, why Governor Newsom chose to save plants instead of the people who burned alive that day, how the FireAid money disappeared into local NGO coffers instead of going to victims," Barcohana said in comments to Fox News Digital.

Janiyah Thomas, a former Trump campaign adviser, offered similar criticism. "Mayor Bass calling Spencer Pratt's campaign 'reprehensible' is the kind of tone-deaf political malpractice that explains exactly why Los Angeles is in crisis," Thomas said. "Spencer Pratt lost his home. His parents lost their home. He watched his city burn while his mayor was on a plane to Ghana."

Pratt himself pushed back directly on Bass's characterization, stating he had received community awards for his support of the Palisades community during the tragedy and noted that he knew neighbors who burned alive across the street from his childhood home.

What the Left Is Saying

Progressive supporters of Bass pointed to her decades of public service and experience navigating complex governmental systems during crises. The interviewer on MeidasTouch praised her tenure working in public office during a major disaster, noting that the fires remained "top of mind" for California voters heading into the election cycle.

Bass defenders have noted that she has worked across party lines throughout her career and that managing a city of nearly 4 million people during an unprecedented wildfire event requires institutional knowledge that cannot be replicated by political newcomers. Her campaign has emphasized her relationships at the federal level, which she argues could bring additional resources to Los Angeles during future emergencies.

What the Numbers Show

Bass faced scrutiny during the fires for being absent when the disaster began. She was traveling in Ghana as a historic windstorm swept through the Los Angeles area ahead of the blaze, prompting criticism from residents whose homes were destroyed while she was abroad.

City budget records show that Bass's administration enacted approximately $17.6 million in cuts to the Los Angeles Fire Department ahead of the January 2025 wildfire season. The department had already been facing staffing challenges and equipment needs identified in prior budget reviews.

The Palisades fire resulted in multiple fatalities and destroyed thousands of structures, making it one of the most destructive wildfires in California history. Pratt announced his mayoral campaign on the one-year anniversary of the fire that destroyed his property.

The Bottom Line

This exchange highlights the tension between political experience and personal testimony as election cycles intensify in major cities. Bass's characterization of her rival drew criticism from across the political spectrum, with detractors arguing that attacking a fire survivor who lost his home undermines trust in incumbent leadership during moments of crisis.

Pratt has positioned himself as an outsider offering accountability for what he calls failures at the highest levels of city government. His campaign ads have focused specifically on Bass's absence and budget decisions leading up to the disaster, framing personal loss as relevant experience rather than exploitation.

Los Angeles voters will weigh these competing narratives as they consider who should lead the nation's second-largest city through increasingly severe wildfire seasons and ongoing questions about emergency preparedness infrastructure.