Colin Cowherd on Donald Trump and the Los Angeles wildfires Credit: The Colin Cowherd Podcast

As wildfires rage around his home and studio in Los Angeles, Colin Cowherd once again wanted to talk politics while avoiding the scorn of putting your political opinions into the public sphere.

So on his Colin Cowherd Podcast on Sunday night, after noting how the lopsided results of NFL Wild Card weekend left an opening to fill out the show away from sports, Cowherd announced he and guest John Middlekauff would be giving their takes on the destruction across the city in the wake of several firestorms that are still raging.

The one caveat from Cowherd: “This is not really going to be a political discussion … this was going to cause immense damage, regardless who was mayor and some political decisions.”

In reality, that’s exactly what it was. Cowherd weighed in on everything from district attorney races in the Pacific Northwest to the homelessness problem in Los Angeles to Donald Trump’s victory last November before finally telling his audience why his “friend” Rick Caruso should be the mayor in the event that things “unravel” for Karen Bass and she resigns.

After Middlekauff gave his reaction to the fires as a former California resident who moved to Arizona because of his frustration with Democratic leadership in the state, Cowherd noted how the way the Gavin Newsom administration ignored the suggestion from Trump to clean up forest floors to help with fires highlights its negligence.

“I don’t like people politicizing 80 mph winds, but I think the points you make are points I hear from all my friends,” Cowherd told Middlekauff.

 

Born and raised in California, Middlekauff explained that he moved to Arizona during the COVID-19 pandemic because of the “overregulation of everything” in the coastal state. Middlekauff sees “very, very loyal Democrats” in California coming to the realization that “no one cares” about them.

Cowherd agreed.

So much, in fact, that he unspooled a take on how the reaction to these fires shows why Trump won… and why America loves football:

“Trump winning a second term and people, the first time, there was a lot of outrage. There wasn’t a lot of outrage this time. I think there’s a lot of Democrats who are very quietly accepting the fact that their party has lost its way and maybe you find Trump crass, maybe even repugnant, but he’s kind of a bottom-line economy, border, crime guy, and I think that’s really appealing to people, especially when they’re in crisis — COVID, wildfires. People want answers, and they’re not really interested in bureaucratic answers and safe answers. They want definitive, hard, uncomfortable questions and answers, and I think that’s what Trump provides.

“I was really taken aback by when he won the election, there was a resignation by the left, ‘you know what, we ran a poor campaign and he connects with more people.’ And I think listening and watching what’s being said during this, I sit here and I look at America … there’s also a reason in this country that football is so damn popular. Players play hurt, they play in crappy weather, there’s no load management, they don’t complain about games, they bust their a**, they treat the fans with respect. In that COVID space, there was a time in this country that people felt like they had to walk on eggshells on social media, at parties, in public, with what they said, and I think people in this country are over it.”

The last time Trump was on the ballot came during the COVID-19 crisis, weeks after he contracted the disease. Trump lost the Electoral College and the popular vote.

Just six months ago, as Trump was running for president a third time, Cowherd ripped him as a “con artist” surrounded by felons.

“He’s trying to sell me an America that doesn’t exist,” Cowherd said then.

“I don’t see crime; I’m not stumbling over homeless people. I see happy people … I’m constantly being sold an America by Donald Trump of ‘crime rates are skyrocketing.’ No, they’re actually not. Starting in 2023, they have plummeted coast to coast…you can’t keep selling me on how bad the country I live in is because it’s not bad for me and my friends.”

Clearly, the fires (and maybe the election results) inspired a significant change of heart for Cowherd. Either Trump’s victory and the tragedy around these fires radicalized Cowherd away from the Democrats, or he’s simply talking out of both sides of his mouth.

Cowherd capped off the non-political conversation by backing a political candidate and “friend,” former independent mayoral candidate Rick Caruso.

“Rick Caruso is a legendary builder in Southern California. He’s one of the richest people in Southern California, also he’s a friend. He’s one of the nicest, most gracious, genuine people I’ve ever met,” Cowherd said. “I thought he was the choice. I think he’s the choice now, and that’s not even a political statement. That’s a common-sense standpoint.

“He’s a builder. He’ll get it done. He’ll zip through regulations. But he was an obvious choice, I thought, the first time. But here’s a guy who had been a Republican, he’s a rich male in Los Angeles. That’s a hard ask, and he lost a close race. But at this point, if you don’t see the value of Rick Caruso, I can’t help you.”

In his response, fellow sports media mogul Angelino Bill Simmons praised local first responders and expressed love for his West L.A. community. On the other hand, Cowherd criticized the governor, mayor, and Democratic leadership in the state.

To close out the segment, Cowherd reminded listeners once again that the whole thing had nothing to do with politics:

“I don’t even think that was a political discussion. I really don’t.”

Like countless other star sports hosts do these days, Cowherd used his platform this weekend to discuss a serious issue in the news. But without writers like he has to keep him on track at FS1, it would appear Cowherd is having trouble sticking to his script.

About Brendon Kleen

Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.