On Sunday's Velshi show, MSNBC invited the network's favorite kind of Republican -- the kind who votes for Democrats -- onto the show in the form of ex-EPA administrator Christine Todd Whitman to join host Ali Velshi in trashing the Donald Trump administration over its opposition to global warming alarmism. Velshi declared President Trump is "one of the biggest ecological disasters we are facing" as he also blamed global warming for recent weather and environmental disasters.
The MSNBC host began the segment by recalling the substantial wildfires in California and noting there are two tropical storms headed for the Gulf Coast at the same time. He tied those events to global warming, which he suggested would in future kill far more people than the pandemic:
ALI VELSHI: The devastating wildfires and the threat of double hurricanes are really part of a larger story -- a story that, if we were living in normal times, would or should be all we ever talked about. While more than 177,000 Americans have died from COVID so far, the number of people who will die from unchecked global warming will dwarf that.
He then ignored arguments that better forest management would help mitigate California wildfires as he mocked President Trump's attempt to explain the issue:
VELSHI: We've got a President right now who refuses to acknowledge that either because he doesn't understand it, doesn't believe it, or is in the pocket of the fossil fuel industry. Here's him talking just last week about how to mitigate forest fires in California.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It's starting again in California. I said, "You got to clean your forests -- you've got to clean your forests." They have many, many years of leaves and broken trees. And they're like so flammable -- you touch them, and it goes up.
VELSHI: Spoiler alert: Cleaning the forest floors will not stop wildfires. You probably knew that, but the President apparently doesn't because that is a President -- that's the President we have -- a President who is woefully ignorant to the gravest dangers to the health and safety of his fellow citizens.
Velshi's attempts to blame wildfires on global warming also ignores studies finding no such link.
After citing other examples to further mock the President over environmental issues, and listing several environmental regulations his administration has curtailed, the MSNBC host added:
We have a President who does not care about climate change. In fact, he's repeatedly called it a "hoax." It might be the thing that's getting the most news coverage right now -- it might not get any during this election season. But climate change is the single problem that is most important to our collective future, and this administration has no idea how to deal with it. So, right now, as natural disasters plague our world from pandemics to wildfires to double hurricanes, one of the biggest ecological disasters we are facing is Donald Trump himself.
Keith Olbermann has to feel like he's being copied.
Velshi then introduced Whitman, and, after noting that the Republican Whitman has supported both Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden against Trump, Velshi then cued her up to complain about her party on environmental issues:
You have argued for some time for this issue to stop being partisan. You've reminded people that the organization you headed, the EPA, was founded under a Republican administration in 1970. There was a time, and it is not illogical that Republicans and conservatives should care as much about the environment as anybody else.
This episode of Velshi was sponsored by Farmer's Insurance and Flex Paste.Their contact information is linked.
Below is a transcript of relevant portions of the Sunday, August 23, Velshi on MSNBC:
8:50 a.m. Eastern
ALI VELSHI: The devastating wildfires and the threat of double hurricanes are really part of a larger story -- a story that, if we were living in normal times, would or should be all we ever talked about. While more than 177,000 Americans have died from COVID so far, the number of people who will die from unchecked global warming will dwarf that. We've got a President right now who refuses to acknowledge that either because he doesn't understand it, doesn't believe it, or is in the pocket of the fossil fuel industry. Here's him talking just last week about how to mitigate forest fires in California.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It's starting again in California. I said, "You got to clean your forests -- you've got to clean your forests." They have many, many years of leaves and broken trees. And they're like so flammable -- you touch them, and it goes up.
VELSHI: Spoiler alert: Cleaning the forest floors will not stop wildfires. You probably knew that, but the President apparently doesn't because that is a President -- that's the President we have -- a President who is woefully ignorant to the gravest dangers to the health and safety of his fellow citizens. Maybe, as these tropical storms menace the Gulf Coast, we will see another sharpie-drawn map that will change their path because we have a President who also actually did that. We have a President who once suggested using nuclear weapons to stop hurricanes.
We have a President who has spent his time in office dismantling environmental protections apparently out of nothing more than spite for the President who established them, Barack Obama. A President who, just this month, rolled back a rule limiting methane leaks even though the gas industry that stands to benefit from the rollback didn't actually want it. A President who, just this week, had to pause his plan to greenlight a gold and copper mine in Alaska because of pushback from fellow Republicans, including his own son, who worry about the harmful effect on the environment.
We have a President who does not care about climate change. In fact, he's repeatedly called it a "hoax." It might be the thing that's getting the most news coverage right now -- it might not get any during this election season. But climate change is the single problem that is most important to our collective future, and this administration has no idea how to deal with it. So, right now, as natural disasters plague our world from pandemics to wildfires to double hurricanes, one of the biggest ecological disasters we are facing is Donald Trump himself.
Joining me now, former New Jersey governor and former EPA administrator during the Bush administration, Christine Todd Whitman. She is notably a Republican, but she has endorsed Joe Biden at the Democratic National Convention last Monday. She also endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016. Governor, good to see you again. You have argued for some time for this issue to stop being partisan. You've reminded people that the organization you headed, the EPA, was founded under a Republican administration in 1970. There was a time, and it is not illogical that Republicans and conservatives should care as much about the environment as anybody else.
CHRISTINE TODD WHITMAN, FORMER EPA ADMINISTRATOR: Absolutely. I mean, "conservative" -- it's conservation. Those two things go together. And it used to be our issue -- we used to believe in it, and believed we needed to do something, and plus the fact is, as you point out, it's about public health -- it's about public safety -- it's not a partisan issue. These things that are happening -- these fires, the hurricanes, the COVID -- none of them care about what party you belong to.
None of them care about whether you're rich or poor or where you live. And so it's about all of us -- all of our health. And you were right -- I was laughing when I first came on because of what you said about our biggest natural disaster being the President. You're absolutely right. What he has done has been for short-term political gain at the long-term expense of our health and our environment.
