WATCH: White House holds news briefing as fires devastate Los Angeles

President Joe Biden hosted a briefing on the Los Angeles-area wildfires in the Oval Office Friday. Vice President Kamala Harris was also there, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass appeared virtually.

Watch White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s briefing the player above.

Biden described the fires as the “worst in California history” and warned, “we still got a long way to go.”

Although progress has been made, the winds that have fanned the flames could remain a threat for days.

Harris said people responding to the fires are showing “the best of the American spirit.”

“There are moments where we should find optimism in the heroism of people, who are taking in strangers, taking in friends,” she said.

Newsom, for his part, thanked Biden for the federal support and said he expects firefighters to “make a lot of progress” on Friday.

The California governor then slammed those who he said are spreading misinformation, saying his state has been battling “hurricane-force winds of myths and disinformation lies” on top of the fires.

“People want to divide this country and we’re going to have to address this as well,” Newsom added.

Local leaders have faced sharp criticism for their handling of the fires, some of it coming from right-wing sources and much of it directed at the city’s female mayor, Karen Bass and their female fire chief, Kristen Crowley.

Biden defended the women during the briefing Friday, saying they’re “getting a bad rap regarding fire hydrants that aren’t working.”

“Give me a break,” Biden said. “This is complicated stuff, and you’re going to have a lot of demagogues out there trying to take advantage of it.”

Biden pegged the problem to utilities cutting power because they’re worried about sparking more fires, which has hampered the ability to pump water.