“We have political leaders who don’t prioritize the safety and livability of our cities,” said Rick Caruso without saying L.A. Mayor Karen Bass‘ name of the human causes of the L.A. wildfires on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher tonight in one of the biggest political sit-downs of a tumultuous week locally, nationally and internationally.

“Why wasn’t more done?”

One factor Caruso pinpointed was getting the commonly falling and failing power lines in LA County underground. He also advocated the LAFD being “fully funded.” For a man who appeared overly scripted in his failed 2022 race to be L.A. Mayor, Caruso was razor blunt when it came to threats from Congressional Republicans and President-elect Donald Trump that future federal aid to California for these recent wildfires and future wildfires might not be delivered with such an open hand anymore

“This idea that the federal aid is going to come with conditions …it’s bullshit,” Caruso blurted out. “Bullshit!”

Before the one-on-one with Caruso, the host set the tone for Friday’s Real Time with Bill Maher Season 23 premiere right near the top of the show with quips about the air quality in the LA and remarks not to “make fun of rednecks who have their home on wheels.” Still, it wasn’t all jokes in the monologue with praise to firefighters, “who saved our ass” and of course more than a fistful of barbs against the Oval Office return of Donald Trump and his MAGA gang.

But, even with the pre-recorded show a bit behind the times with Trump’s latest inauguration now moved inside because of near freezing weather in DC, it was the L.A. wildfires that were in the Real Time spotlight

Naming businessman and ex-police commission President Steve Soboroff today as LA’s Chief Recovery Officer in a gig that many think should have gone to Caruso, Mayor Bass said “there’s no greater priority than getting people back home.” A week and a half after the firestorms that reduced swaths of the Palisades, Pasadena and Altadena to dust hit the City of Angels and with around 200,000 people still evacuated, Bass also insisted Friday that the city will unveil its rebuilding strategy next week.

It may be too little way too late for the Mayor.

Having lost to Karen Bass by almost 10% back in the November 8, 2022 runoff with his multi-million dollar self-financed race, real estate developer and former police commission President Caruso was all over TV, the internet and social media in the early hours of the Santa Ana winds pummeled LA and fast moving fires broke out all of the vast and very dry county. With Bass having left on town on January 4 for an official visit to Ghana, despite widespread warnings from the National Weather Service that deadly winds were coming, multi-party member Caruso suddenly seemed like the de facto chief executive of the city – at least until Gov, Gavin Newsom arrived on the scene by January 8 with a LA visiting Joe Biden in tow.

Off the air over the early days of the wildfires and with a January 10 Bill Maher: Is Anyone Else Seeing This? special out Maher has used media appearances to put Bass and Newsom’s feet to the fire, literally and figuratively, for the stumbling response to the fires.

Any backlash to Caruso using private firefighters (the “home team” as he called it) to save his sprawling Palisades Village outdoor shopping mall and eight nearby homes from the lapping flames last week, as well as his Brentwood home, seemed dimmed or even lost in the condemnation of Bass for being absent while her city burned. If that wasn’t the case, Caruso made sure to pivot to helping “those who need help the most” in a barely unspoken campaign that has clearly started.

Even as the Mayor tried to rush home from the inauguration of Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama, her silence to questions from a reporter who was on her flight only added to her damnation.

A less than stellar performance by Bass once she was in LA, with announcements of “URL” instead of a city website and jabs from the LAFD chief, has left the Mayor looking like a bit player in the destructive drama slamming the nation’s second largest city and the greater county.

Once presumed to be a shoo-in for reelection next year, Bass now looks politically DOA. Perpetually coiffed Caruso, on the other hand, appears poised to make another bid for City Hall in 2026, or even the governorship with a term limited Newsom scheduled to exit Sacramento.

“I want to focus on rebuilding,” a coy Caruso said to Maher on Friday. “There’s time for me to decide if I want to run or not.”

Tonight’s Real Time return for a 23^rd season comes just before Maher’s old foil and foe Trump is set to take office again on the MLK holiday of January 20. Along with marquee guest Caruso, Maher’s show tonight also featured comedian/producer Larry Wilmore and GOP strategist Erin Perrine on the Real Time panel.

The 23^rd season of Real Time will run until November 21, A.K.A. halfway until the midterm elections that could prove a minefield for both Trump and Bass.