U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance launched a scathing attack on
the administration of California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor
Karen Bass, questioning the conditions of inequality and insecurity that, in
his view, reflect the city's decline.
During a public address, Vance recounted a personal
experience from a visit to Los Angeles, where he said the contrast between some
affluent areas and impoverished neighborhoods reminded him of Port-au-Prince,
the capital of Haiti.
"When I was there, I thought, 'You know what this
reminds me of? It reminds me of going to the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince,
Haiti: extreme security, enormous wealth, privilege, and status inside, while
outside there is misery and poverty,'" the vice president stated. Vance
noted that this impression was reinforced when he was heading to an event near
Skid Row, one of the areas with the highest concentration of homeless people in
Los Angeles. He explained that the organizers provided him with an alternate
route and detailed instructions to avoid the area at night.
The official said he initially questioned the need to follow
a different route than the one he would normally use with a navigation app.
"I thought, 'Why do I have to follow these directions? Why don't I just
put the destination into Google Maps?'" he recalled.
However, he said he later understood the reason for the
directions. "We realized that the reason they gave us such complicated
directions was to avoid going through Skid Row at night," he stated.
Vance added that, had he followed the route suggested by
Google Maps, he would have gone directly through that area before arriving at
the venue where the event was being held. He described the venue as an
exclusive space with high-end amenities and strict security measures, which, he
said, contrasted sharply with the conditions outside.
"So, if you followed the Google Maps route, you went
through Skid Row to get to the event. Then you arrived at a beautiful place
with fine food and wine, while outside there were armed guards and huge
walls," he said. Based on that experience, the vice president blamed
Governor Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass for what he called a failure in the
conduct of public policies in California and the city of Los Angeles,
considering that inequality, the lack of attention to the homelessness crisis
and security problems reflect deficiencies in the state and municipal
administration.