Mel Gibson's home in California is still smoldering, and he's wasted no time in figuring out who to blame.
The actor stopped by "The Ingraham Angle" on Friday night to cautiously float the idea that the deadly, destructive wildfires throughout Los Angeles were set intentionally and allowed to burn.
"California has a lot of problems that sort of baffle the mind as far as why they do things," Gibson told the Fox News host. "And then in the events like this, you sort of [think] 'well, is it on purpose?' It’s an insane thing to think. But one begins to ponder whether or not there is a purpose in mind."
Gibson questioned whether leaders wanted to empty out the state, comparing the fires in California to "old cattle barons clearing people off the land."
"I can make all kinds of horrible theories up in my head, conspiracy theories and everything else, but it just seemed a little convenient," Gibson said, going on to ask if people were "commissioned" to start fires.
Gibson's "Ingraham" stop was of a piece with a wider right-wing conspiracist tour. As his house was burning, the actor appeared on the "The Joe Rogan Experience." Gibson pushed the idea of curing cancer with ivermectin as his $14.5 million home was destroyed by the Pacific Palisades fire.
“I was kind of ill at ease while we were talking [on the podcast] because I knew my neighborhood was on fire, so I thought, ‘I wonder if my place is still there,’” Gibson told NewsNation. “But when I got home, sure enough, it wasn’t there.”
Overall, Gibson seemed in good spirits, marveling at the fact that the chickens he keeps weren't burned in the fire, and joking that he was ready for a fresh start.
“I’ve been relieved from the burden of my stuff because it’s all in cinders,” he said, "I went home and I said to myself, ‘Well at least I haven’t got any of those pesky plumbing problems anymore."
Still, his visits are part of a wider right-wing turn toward paranoia when discussing the wildfires. MAGA television presenters have regularly tossed out the idea of intentional wildfires while the more conspiracist online fringe has alleged, without any evidence, that the fires were caused by "directed energy weapons."
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