California's homeless crisis is a national embarrassment, Steve Hilton says
Fox News host Steve Hilton reacts to the White House launching a fact-finding team to investigate the issue.
Fox News host Steve Hilton told “America’s Newsroom” on Wednesday that it is “appropriate” for the White House to “see what they can do” about the California homeless crisis.
Hilton, host of "The Next Revolution," said he generally believes that the country should not "look to Washington to fix every problem" but that in this case, the situation has become a "national embarrassment."
"This situation, even though it’s the result of the incompetence and bad policymaking - particularly in areas like housing and zoning policy of local and state government - in California, it’s actually become a national embarrassment," he said.
White House officials, along with staff from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Domestic Policy Council, are in California to meet with officials in Los Angeles and other urban areas for a round of talks on homelessness, said Alex Comisar, the deputy communications director for L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, to Fox News.
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“Our office learned very recently of the administration’s plans to visit L.A., to learn more about our strategies for responding to the homelessness crisis,” Comisar said in an email. “We welcome them and look forward to showing them our work to confront this humanitarian emergency.”
The trip, first reported by The Washington Post, comes amid renewed criticism from the president of officials' response to California's homelessness epidemic. Los Angeles has seen a 16 percent increase in its homeless population over last year – more than 36,000 people live on the streets -- according to a recent report.
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“It is just so embarrassing,” Hilton said about people from other countries who are surprised to see “Third World-type” conditions while visiting the "richest country in the world."
He also shared a recent quote on his show from fellow Fox News host Judge Jeanine Pirro that he said perfectly summed up the situation.
"Talking about San Francisco, near where I live, she said I wouldn't even take my dog for a walk in San Francisco because I'd be worried that the dog would step in human poop. That's the situation we're in now. ... It's terrible."
Fox News' Andrew O’Reilly contributed to this report.