NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
FIRST ON FOX: The Trump administration approved millions in disaster relief loans for small businesses that were rocked by the anti-ICE riots that plagued Los Angeles in June after Gov. Gavin Newsom downplayed the riots and blamed the violence on the Trump administration, Fox News Digital exclusively learned on Tuesday.
Small Business Administration chief Kelly Loeffler announced in a press release first shared with Fox News Digital on Tuesday that Newsom’s government had applied for an SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) declaration, which the administration quickly approved. Small businesses are now able to apply for up to $2 million in low-interest EIDL loans “to support working capital and normal operating expenses such as payroll, rent, and utilities that could not be met due to the destruction enabled by Newsom’s failed governance,” according to the SBA.
“Governor Newsom allowed a mob to rampage Los Angeles – standing with violent rioters, paid protestors, and criminal illegal aliens over law-abiding citizens. Despite an estimated $1 billion in damage, he refused federal relief for weeks, insisting that the riots were peaceful even as small business owners stood in the rubble,” Loeffler said in the press release.
“Although the SBA has approved California’s disaster relief request and will begin delivering immediate aid to the innocent victims, Governor Newsom must take accountability for his state-sanctioned crisis – and stop playing politics with Americans’ livelihoods.”
SOCIAL MEDIA EXPOSES CA DEMS WITH RECEIPTS ON ILLEGALS AFTER THEY ATTACK TRUMP FOR COST OF RIOT RESPONSE
The press release noted that the request followed “weeks of no real solutions and inflammatory social media statements” until the governor “finally requested federal disaster relief to bail him out – again.”
The relief follows SBA previously approving an additional 11,583 loans that totaled $2.99 billion in relief earlier this year following the California wildfire disasters in January, Fox News Digital learned, and marked the largest sum of disaster dollars ever approved by SBA for non-hurricane or flooding events.
LOS ANGELES BUSINESS OWNERS ‘SICK AND TIRED’ OF ‘STUPID’ ANTI-ICE RIOTERS LOOTING THEIR STORES
Loeffler had previously called on Newsom to request an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Declaration back in June in order for the agency to approve funds to assist small business owners in Los Angeles “that have been ransacked by rioters.”
“We’re giving Gavin Newsom the opportunity to stop siding with criminal illegal aliens and start siding with law-abiding Americans – many of whom have lost everything to the violent and destructive riots across Los Angeles,” Loeffler said in a statement on June 12. “The migrant mob has looted stores, destroyed storefronts, and committed criminal acts of vandalism against our small businesses. Although local leaders are allowing Los Angeles to burn, federal partners are ready to help American citizens rebuild – and we will do so, as soon as the Governor answers their call for help.”
A spokesperson for Gov. Newsom doubled down on Tuesday in a statement to Fox News Digital, blaming last month’s violence in Los Angeles on the Trump administration, while also celebrating the SBA’s approval of relief for affected California businesses.
“Finally, the federal government is doing the right thing to pay for the damages several small businesses have suffered from the Trump-imposed chaos campaign in Los Angeles. California businesses shouldn’t have to shoulder the burden of Trump’s authoritarian tirade,” a Newsom spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Tuesday.
CALIFORNIA LT. GOVERNOR SAYS LOS ANGELES RIOTS ARE ‘GENERATED BY DONALD TRUMP’
Riots broke out in L.A. the evening of June 6, after federal law enforcement officials converged on the city to carry out immigration raids. State and local leaders, such as Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Newsom, quickly denounced the raids in public statements while offering words of support for illegal immigrants in the state.
Protests over the raids soon devolved into violence as rioters targeted federal law enforcement officials, including launching rocks at officials, with videos showing people looting local stores, setting cars on fire and taking over streets.
Los Angeles officials reported in June that the city incurred nearly $20 million in costs over the riots, including in police overtime and to repair damage to government buildings, the LA Times previously reported.
Trump deployed 2,000 National Guard members to help quell the violence, which bypassed the governor, who typically activates the National Guard, while the administration additionally deployed hundreds of Marines to respond to anti-raid chaos.
NEWSOM’S OFFICE COMPARES LA RIOTS AGAINST FEDERAL AGENTS TO SPORTS CELEBRATIONS
California subsequently sued the Trump administration for deploying the National Guard, which Newsom said in a press release “needlessly escalated chaos and violence in the Los Angeles region.” A federal appeals court ultimately ruled in Trump’s favor in the case.
Federal officials pinned blame for the violence on Democratic elected officials who have “villainized and demonized” ICE law enforcement, Fox News Digital previously reported.
“The violent targeting of law enforcement in Los Angeles by lawless rioters is despicable and Mayor Bass and Governor Newsom must call for it to end,” Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin wrote in a statement in June as the violence continued. “The men and women of ICE put their lives on the line to protect and defend the lives of American citizens … From comparisons to the modern-day Nazi gestapo to glorifying rioters, the violent rhetoric of these sanctuary politicians is beyond the pale. This violence against ICE must end.”
EXCLUSIVE: TRUMP ADMIN TAKES ACTION AFTER MASSIVE FRAUD UNCOVERED AT AGENCY DEMS TRIED TO PROTECT FROM DOGE
Newsom rejected characterizing the violence as “riots” in social media posts or interviews, instead pinning blame for the chaos on Trump and the administration for its immigration policies and “exacerbating” the violence by activating the National Guard.
“Donald Trump has created the conditions you see on your TV tonight. He’s exacerbated the conditions. He’s, you know, lit the proverbial match. He’s putting fuel on this fire ever since he announced he was taking over the National Guard, an illegal act, an immoral act, an unconstitutional act, and we’re going to test that theory with a lawsuit tomorrow,” Newsom said on June 9 when asked if he would describe the events as “riots” or “peaceful protests.”
President Donald Trump and Newsom repeatedly traded barbs on social media and during public remarks throughout the protests and riots, with the president arguing Los Angeles would have been destroyed if he had not stepped in.
“Incompetent Gavin Newscum should have been THANKING me for the job we did in Los Angeles, rather than making sad excuses for the poor job he has done. If it weren’t for me getting the National Guard into Los Angeles, it would be burning to the ground right now!” Trump posted to Truth Social on June 12.
The violence and protests quelled following the national “No Kings Day” protests on June 14, when Trump simultaneously held a military parade in Washington, D.C., honoring the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army.
The pair also traded blows in January as Trump slammed Newsom for his leadership amid the devastating wildfires that gripped the Los Angeles area. Trump pinned blame on Newsom for not better preparing to prevent wildfires, while Newsom’s office accused Trump of “playing politics” while they focused on ending the devastation.
Newsom touted on Monday that his state has “invested billions of dollars to fight fires” and called on Trump “to put his money where his mouth is” and help protect communities from wildfires.
“California has done more than our fair share of ‘raking’ the forests, now the federal government has to do its part to Make America Rake Again. We’ve invested billions of dollars and treated millions of acres – more than doubling our state investment from when I took office. We’re doing all we can to protect communities from catastrophic wildfire, will President Trump?” Newsom said, according to his office’s press release.
Read the full article here
