Los Angeles Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong doubled down on his recent criticism of LA Mayor Karen Bass on Monday, saying his paper made an error when it endorsed her candidacy in 2022.
“We’ll accept some blame. At the LA Times, we endorsed Karen Bass. I think, right now, up front, that’s a mistake, and we admit that,” Soon-Shiong said.
Soon-Shiong made the comment while appearing on 2WAY Interactive’s “The Morning Meeting” podcast with Sean Spicer, Mark Halperin, and Dan Turrentine. His paper endorsed Bass, who was then a Democratic member of the House of Representatives, against Rick Caruso in their 2022 mayoral race.
You can watch part of his appearance below:
His comment follows an X post last week in which Soon-Shiong said Bass’ leadership during the catastrophe raised “serious questions.”
The wildfires that have swept Los Angeles from the coast to the mountains have killed at least 24 people and burned a combined 37,830 acres — more than twice the size of Manhattan — as of Monday afternoon. More than 12,000 structures have been destroyed by the two largest fires (Palisades and Eaton), according to the Washington Post.
The devastation has led many in the city to call into question Bass’ handling of the chaos, including Soon-Shiong, who said last week that “competence matters” in a moment of crisis. On Monday, he said that phrase was important because that sentiment “was really dear to the heart of most people, whether you’re right or left.”
He added that the fires have been a “wake up call” to his outlet.
“As a paper, we have responsibility to the entire community, whether you’re left, right, Democrat, Republican. Really, our obligation is to provide, inform and inspire, educate and almost create the paper as a media utility,” Soon-Shiong said.
Moving forward, Soon-Shiong said LA would benefit from “practical” measures to combat wildfires, like in Laguna, where the city uses goats to remove dried brush.
The post LA Times Owner Calls Paper’s Karen Bass Endorsement a Mistake: ‘We’ll Accept Some Blame’ appeared first on TheWrap.
