Appearing as a guest on Friday's CNN Newsroom with Carol Costello, while endorsing Hillary Clinton for President because Bernie Sanders has been "insensitive to the plight of black people," music mogul Russell Simmons made wildly alarmist predictions suggesting humanity would die "in the next 50 years" because the "farming lobby" is "poisoning the planet quickly."
He also blamed earthquakes on global warming during his rant. Referring to Sanders, he complained: "And I asked him about it, and he brushed it off, even though he knows that your earthquake and certainly all of these storms are a result of factory farming. We now have all of the proof in the world that climate change is manmade, and we have to do something to derail it."
After spending the first part of the segment blaming Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and Republicans for the water pollution in Flint, host Costello asked him if he was planning to endorse in the presidential race. Simmons endorsed Clinton and excoriated Sanders as he began his global warming rant:
I have just decided to endorse my long-time friend, Senator Clinton. I think Bernie Sanders is over-promising. He's insensitive to the plight of black people. And what good is it if you don't take lobbyists' money if you don't acknowledge the number one threat to America and to the world is the factory farming lobby because it is poisoning the planet quickly, and it is poisoning its inhabitants. So the shift has to be made away from the animal products, away from the beef industry specifically, but all the animal products, into a planet-based diet. Or there will be no planet.
Simmons suggested the human race would be extinct in 50 years as he continued:
And in the next 50 years, we won't even have an ocean. And when the oceans die, we die. So we must change the rate at which we consume animals. And we cannot have a lobbyist take advantage of all our natural resources in order to poison the planet and its people. And I asked him about it, and he brushed it off, even though he knows that your earthquake and certainly all of these storms are a result of factory farming. We now have all of the proof in the world that climate change is manmade, and we have to do something to derail it. So that, to me, aside from his insensitivity to black voters, caused me to support Hillary Clinton who I think can win.
The CNN host then pushed back on the claim of Senator Sanders being "insensitive." Costello: "Do you really believe Bernie Sanders is insensitive, do you really believe Bernie Sanders is insensitive to the needs of the black community?"
Simmons persisted:
Yes, he's insensitive in a number of ways, and I would get into it if we had time, but I think Senator Clinton has been sensitive, supportive of a progressive agenda. She's realistic in what she can get done. She's able to beat the Republican candidate, and I think that Bernie Sanders would not be able to or could lose. And I don't want to take that chance.
