Sen. Adam Schiff of California wanted to play nice with President Donald Trump on his trip to survey the wildfire devastation in California.
Mr. Trump, however, wasn’t ready to bury the hatchet with the man he dubbed “Shifty Schiff” and “pencil neck.”
“I was told that Schiff was going to travel with us to California. I wasn’t thrilled, to be honest with you,” Mr. Trump told reporters Friday. “And I saw him last night on television. It looks like he got hit with a baseball bat or something. What happened to him?”
Mr. Trump also said the fire in California “could have been put out” if elected officials “let the water flow.”
“So I think we are going to have a very interesting time,” he said of the trip.
Mr. Trump has had a tumultuous relationship with Mr. Schiff and other Democratic leaders from California and, recently, had the upper hand.
Mr. Trump sent California’s own Vice President Kamala Harris packing, putting a dent in her political image as she mulls her next move. He regularly trades barbs with California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who he nicknamed “Newscum.”
Mr. Trump has piled on in the wake of the wildfires, criticizing the way Mr. Newsom and Democratic officials prepared for and handled the disaster.
Mr. Trump, on his first day on the job, issued an executive order entitled: “Putting People Over Fish: Stopping Radical Environmentalism to Provide Water to Southern California.”
For his part, Mr. Newsom has relished the limelight and jumped at opportunities to fire back at Mr. Trump.
The next chapter in the political saga was set to play out on an airport tarmac Friday, where Mr. Newsom planned to meet Mr. Trump upon his arrival.
Mr. Newsom also hit a friendly note ahead of Mr. Trump’s visit, telling reporters he is “grateful” Mr. Trump is making the trip.
Mr. Trump’s latest jab at Mr. Schiff came after the newly minted senator said the president had invited him and other California lawmakers to tour the damage but that he could not attend because of voters on Capitol Hill.
“I’m glad he is going,” Mr. Schiff, who previously cast the president as a Nazi sympathizer and led the prosecution in his first impeachment trial, said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
He said he hoped the visit would pave the way for Mr. Trump and Republicans in Congress to sign off on federal assistance without any strings attached.
“We have never done that when it comes to our fellow citizens who are hurting and California has been, frankly the most generous state in terms of supporting our fellow citizens when they are in red states and blue when they face disaster,” Mr. Schiff said. “This is a great opportunity to come together in the wake of this tragedy and show that we can work together even while we may fight over other issues, and we will have to fight over other issues when it comes to helping our fellow citizens who are suffering that should bring us together.”
The kumbayah moment quickly tapered off after Mr. Schiff, responding to a question from an MSNBC host, closed out the interview by saying Mr. Trump pardoning the Jan. 6 prisoners empowered White nationalists.
Mr. Schiff recently received a pardon from President Biden, shielding him from possible legal action over his involvement in the Democrat-led House Jan. 6 Committee that investigated the Capitol riot and concluded it was Mr. Trump’s fault.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.