Sen. Adam Schiff discusses Eaton Fire recovery efforts, Trump administration cuts in ABC7 interview
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- California Sen. Adam Schiff is now two months into his first term in the Senate after serving more than two decades in the House of Representatives.
In a Thursday interview with ABC7, Schiff drew parallels between the current political climate in America and the rise of fascism in 1930s Germany. He also said Democrats need to unite and show skeptical voters that Democrats can govern and actually get things done.
Before the interview, Schiff spent much of Thursday morning in the Eaton Fire zone, receiving an update on cleanup efforts there.
"So far, so good," the senator told ABC7. "The recovery effort, the cleanup operations are moving ahead of schedule."
Conservatives have sharply criticized local and state leaders for their handling of California's firestorm, blaming Democratic leadership for the severity of the fires that left thousands of structures destroyed. Schiff sees the cleanup and rebuilding effort as an opportunity.
"I think the fires and the necessity of speedily rebuilding give us an important test case that we damn well better pass," he said. "And that is: Can we get the cleanup done quickly? Can we show that Democratic governance works?"
Schiff takes a dim view of the governance of the Trump administration, which has slashed the federal workforce and gutted key departments -- including a proposed $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid.
"They're slashing all these services for the American people," he said. "They're cutting people's health care, they're going to go after people's retirement, because they want to take that money and use it for a tax cut for really rich people and corporations. Hospitals are going to close, clinics are going to close, people are going to be denied services, and they're going to be denied life-saving services.
"So, Medicaid is very much on the chopping block," Schiff continued. "They say they're not cutting Social Security but they're closing down Social Security offices, they're taking people off the phones. If you can't get ahold of anyone to find out what happened to your missing check, that's the same as cutting that benefit."
Schiff has described the Trump presidency as "dangerous" and "a threat to Democracy."
"The administration is trying to create a climate of fear," Schiff said. "They're intimidating the press and they're intimidating universities and they're intimidating private law firms and they're seeking to silence their critics."
Schiff says there are many similarities between America in 2025 and Germany in the 1930s.
Although he does not mention Adolf Hitler by name, Schiff's reference to the former Bavarian Army corporal is clear.
"In the 1930s there was a belief among conservatives that they could exploit the popularity and the populism of this not-so-bright corporal," he said. "And he ended up remaking that party in his terrible image overnight. There was a similar kind of a Hobbesian bargain among a lot of the business community and conservatives, that they could make use of this not-so-bright real estate magnate from New York. And he's completely remade the Republican Party."
Republicans and other supporters of Trump, of course, reject that comparison wholeheartedly.
"We don't want to remake this mistake that other countries have, who couldn't imagine losing their democracy," Schiff said. "You need to imagine that it's possible in this country because we're seeing some very worrying steps in that direction."
