There are puff pieces and then there is whatever senior climate correspondent David Schechter cooked up on CBS Saturday Morning when he chose to highlight actress Jane Fonda’s campaigning for “climate-friendly politicians.”
Schechter claimed, “For most of her 85 years, Fonda's been more than an actor, she’s been a regular presence on the front lines of causes that are bigger than herself.”
As footage of Fonda palling around with a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft crew played in the background, Schechter delivered what had to be the understatement of the year, “In 1972 she made a controversial visit to Vietnam opposing the war.”
Schechter also promoted Fonda’s abortion activism, “In the 1990s, she marched to support women's reproductive rights.”
After a clip of Fonda at an abortion rally, Schechter got to the main point of his segment, “Now she's supporting climate-friendly politicians across the country.”
Fonda was then shown trying to scare an audience with the claim that, “This is basically the last election that can have a major effect on climate.”
Schechter further hyped, “She runs a political action committee and has handpicked over 100 lower-level candidates who will stand up to the political influence of the oil and gas industry.”
It could be hard to tell the difference between the journalist and the far-left activist as Fonda told him, “The fossil fuel industry spends hundreds of millions of dollars lobbying, and it's very effective, so we need to get people elected to office that don't take fossil fuel money.”
Schechter further promoted, “Many of the candidates she supports are running for under-the-radar offices like Portland city council or a school board seat in Virginia and she's raised more than $3 million to help them get elected.”
Speaking to Fonda, he asked, “I've seen some of the photographs of you, you know, campaigning. And I think people are like, 'What's Jane Fonda doing in Michigan with this low-level candidacy?' People are like, ‘What's happening here?’ What, why are you out there?'”
Fonda hoped that, “low-level candidate could, first of all, could rise up and become the governor of the state. You want to groom them to rise up into leadership positions as climate champions. If we have the right people elected to office, we can do it.”
Schecter then had another gross understatement, “Greta Thunberg is the young Swedish environmental activist who skipped school to protest for stronger action on climate change. She inspired millions around the world including Fonda… So in 2019, Fonda started thinking about how to bring that kind of energy to America and the Capitol steps.”
Thunberg is also a raging Marxist and anti-Semite, but as for Schechter, he added, “As it turned out, making a ruckus didn't require camping out. Fonda was arrested five times that winter, protesting for climate action. At times wearing handcuffs alongside famous friends like actor Ted Danson.”
In the video of Fonda’s arrest, she is seen smiling and motioning to the crowd meaning that she knows full well there are no serious consequences to her actions. She can do North Korea-like interviews where she demands the government implement policies that would make everyday people’s lives more difficult while living off her celebrity money.
Here is a transcript of the October 5 show:
CBS Saturday Morning
10/05/2024
8:31 AM ET
DAVID SCHECHTER: For most of her 85 years, Fonda's been more than an actor, she’s been a regular presence on the front lines of causes that are bigger than herself.
NARRATOR: Is Fonda's 1972 trip to North Vietnam, opposing the war.
SCHECHTER: In 1972 she made a controversial visit to Vietnam opposing the war.
[CROWD CHANTING]
SCHECHTER: In the 1990s, she marched to support women's reproductive rights.
JANE FONDA [ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE]: We are here to say to the government, you got enough problems of your own, stay out of my womb!
SCHECHTER: Now she's supporting climate-friendly politicians across the country.
FONDA: This is basically the last election that can have a major effect on climate.
SCHECHTER: She runs a political action committee and has handpicked over 100 lower-level candidates who will stand up to the political influence of the oil and gas industry.
FONDA: The fossil fuel industry spends hundreds of millions of dollars lobbying, and it's very effective, so we need to get people elected to office that don't take fossil fuel money.
SCHECHTER: Many of the candidates she supports are running for under-the-radar offices like Portland city council or a school board seat in Virginia and she's raised more than $3 million to help them get elected.
I've seen some of the photographs of you, you know, campaigning.
FONDA: In the field? Yeah.
SCHECHTER: And I think people are like, “What's Jane Fonda doing in Michigan with this low-level candidacy?” People are like, “What's happening here?” What, why are you out there?
FONDA: Because that low-level candidate could, first of all, could rise up and become the governor of the state. You want to groom them to rise up into leadership positions as climate champions. If we have the right people elected to office, we can do it.
GRETA THUNBERG: The world is drowning in fossil fuels.
SCHECHTER: Greta Thunberg is the young Swedish environmental activist who skipped school to protest for stronger action on climate change. She inspired millions around the world including Fonda.
[CROWD CHANTING]
SCHECHTER: So in 2019, Fonda started thinking about how to bring that kind of energy to America and the Capitol steps.
FONDA: I'm going to leave California, I'm going to move to D.C. and I'm going to raise a ruckus. I'm a little worried, though, because camping out there, where do you poop?
SCHECHTER: It’s an important question.
FONDA: Because I've camped in the wilderness all my life, and I know how to deal with it, but I didn't know in a city.
SCHECHTER: As it turned out, making a ruckus didn't require camping out. Fonda was arrested five times that winter, protesting for climate action. At times wearing handcuffs alongside famous friends like actor Ted Danson.
