Actor Frank Stallone slammed Democrats for California’s decline, citing “rampant crime and filth” that have turned the state into something “scary” that is a far cry from its glory days.
“I came to California in ’79,” Stallone told Fox News, adding that when he arrived in The Golden State, “it was California Dreamin’,” citing the 1965 The Mamas & the Papas’ song.
“And I wasn’t even in the best time,” the Rambo: First Blood Part II actor continued. “No, it was a lot better earlier — but it was real California sunny, you know? Cool. Not much crime.”
Stallone went on to disclose that he “drove through downtown” the other day, “and the filth, the graffiti, and the homelessness is almost like that movie ‘Escape from New York.’ I mean, it’s that scary.”
“I batten down the window, locks,” Stallone continued, adding, “You’re talking trash piled four feet high. Just filth.”
Notably, the 1981 film, Escape from New York, follows a U.S. president as he “crashes into Manhattan, now a giant maximum security prison, a convicted bank robber is sent in to rescue him,” according to the movie’s IMDb page.
Stallone added that while California is beautiful, the state has been ruined due to poor leadership from both Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D), and Governor Gavin Newsom (D), who now appears to be more focused on his podcast, This Is Gavin Newsom.
“I think this guy is so transparent. He’s so phony. He’s a terrible speaker. The hands and the hair and everything. He’s just set up to be made fun of, you know what I mean? And he’s a bad governor,” Stallone said.
The actor also called out Bass for being in Africa earlier this year, while several wildfires destroyed Los Angeles.
“Why are you in Ghana? Hello? What’s that have to do with being the mayor of Los Angeles?” Stallone inquired, before adding that he believes Bass fire chief Kristin Crowley — who was fired — as a “scapegoat.”
“When you have 70-mile-an-hour winds, and you’ve had a drought, that is kind of a recipe for disaster,” the Staying Alive actor said.
Stallone added that he would like to see Los Angeles real estate developer Rick Caruso, who used private firefighters to save the Palisades Village mall, run for governor of California.
“I just I think our leadership is really bad,” he said. “I hope Rick Caruso runs for governor. He’d be a fantastic governor. You know, he’s a builder. He’s a visionary. You know, he’s one of those type guys. And I think it’d be really good.”
Stallone also told Fox News that he would like to see the homeless encampments in Los Angeles cleaned up.
“You’ve just got to move them out,” Stallone said. “No more of these Winnebagos parked for months on the curb. You know, we got to move. No more pitching tents on sidewalks where people can’t walk. No more pitching tents in front of people’s houses.”
“When I was going down to the gym, it was so compacted with homeless people,” he added. “The stench — also that that type of unsanitariness breeds, you know, all kinds of bad stuff. There’s a lot of human excrement. It’s just terrible.”
Stallone went on to say that he sees “guys that are in better shape than me that are young, standing there begging around the corner.”
“Why don’t you go out and get a job?” the actor asked, adding, “I really don’t want to pay for that.”
“I mean, yes, there are some people that are mentally ill, I get it,” he added. “They should be getting help somewhere, but we could create a lot of jobs. This city is filthy. We said, listen, we’ll put you to work. You can be on a road crew, help clean up the city. You can make a few bucks.”
Sylvester Stallone and Frank Stallone arrive at the Lionsgate Los Angeles premiere of “The Expendables 3” at TCL Chinese Theatre on Monday, Aug. 11, 2014, in Hollywood, Calif. (Eric Charbonneau/Getty Images for Lionsgate)
Stallone also lamented California’s beauty being clouded by bad policies and poor leadership.
“This is such a beautiful state. Beautiful,” he explained. “We got the mountains, we got snow, we got the ocean. We’ve got everything. It’s just run wrong — the crime. It’s just ridiculous.”
“You know, $900 you can steal and nothing happens. But that, to me, is I’m lost on that one. You know, when I was a kid, you stole a candy bar, you get a kick in the butt,” Stallone recalled.
The actor’s mention of $900 in theft refers to California’s Proposition 47, Fox News noted, explaining that the policy “made several crimes, including shoplifting, grand theft and receiving stolen property, a misdemeanor instead of a felony,” as long as the value does not exceed $950.
That is, “unless the defendant had prior convictions of murder, rape, certain sex offenses, or certain gun crimes,” the outlet added.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
