On Friday morning, CNN anchors were freaking out as President Donald Trump used the occasion of record-low temperatures on the East Coast to take a jab at global warming theory. On CNN's Early Start program, co-host Dave Briggs repeatedly called Trump's tweet "bizarre," and CNN's New Day also dealt with the story in the first half hour of the show.
At 4:23 a.m., host Briggs -- formerly of FNC -- brought up the issue and immediately scoffed at the President:
In a tweet as bizarre as it was lacking in scientific knowledge, President Trump sarcastically suggested that climate change could be a good thing, apparently not realizing climate change and local weather are not exactly the same thing. While he was on vacation in sunny Florida where it's in the mid-70s, the President fired off this tweet:
Briggs then read the tweet in question: "In the East, it could be the coldest New Year's Eve on record. Maybe we could use a little bit of that good old global warming that our country, but not other countries, was going to pay trillions of dollars to protect against. Bundle up!"
Substitute host Alison Kosik further undermined Trump as the substitute co-host jumped in:
Mr. Trump has a history of linking the temperature in any one place to the existence of global warming -- something climate scientists have long said is inaccurate. A White House official did not respond when asked whether the tweet indicates anything about the administration's policy. It's worth pointing out that the President's golf course in Ireland recently received permission to build sea walls to prevent erosion. Maybe he does acknowledge it exists -- the President's company citing global warming on its application for the walls. Go figure.
The Early Start hosts covered the issue three times during the two-hour show with similar briefs and commentary.
The admonishing of Trump over the issue of whether individual weather events can be seen as evidence for or against global warming theory is ironic given the dominant media's own history of hyping extreme weather events like hurricanes and drought and touting them as evidence of global warming.
Substitute anchor Bill Weir brought up the issue as he was introducing the 6:00 a.m. hour of New Day. Weir:
President Trump also made news last night with a tweet, tweeting that the East Coast could use a bit of that "good old global warming" as bitter cold temperatures grip much of the nation. Mr. Trump once again trying to undermine the science behind climate change, ignoring the fact that the rest of the planet is above normal temperatures as something that he repeatedly called a hoax.
He and co-host Alisyn Camerota brought up the issue with CNN analyst David Drucker within the first half hour of the show.
Below is a transcript of relevant portions of the Friday, December 29, Early Start and New Day on CNN:
4:23 a.m. ET
DAVE BRIGGS: In a tweet as bizarre as it was lacking in scientific knowledge, President Trump sarcastically suggested that climate change could be a good thing, apparently not realizing climate change and local weather are not exactly the same thing. While he was on vacation in sunny Florida where it's in the mid-70s, the President fired off this tweet:
"In the East, it could be the coldest New Year's Eve on record. Maybe we could use a little bit of that good old global warming that our country, but not other countries, was going to pay trillions of dollars to protect against. Bundle up!"
BRIGGS: The President's tweet further distances his climate policy from the vast majority of scientists.
ALISON KOSIK: Mr. Trump has a history of linking the temperature in any one place to the existence of global warming -- something climate scientists have long said is inaccurate. A White House official did not respond when asked whether the tweet indicates anything about the administration's policy. It's worth pointing out that the President's golf course in Ireland recently received permission to build sea walls to prevent erosion. Maybe he does acknowledge it exists -- the President's company citing global warming on its application for the walls. Go figure.
BRIGGS: Interesting. So just how much colder will it get in in this last week or 2017? Meteorologist Derek Van Dam has our forecast.
DEREK VAN DAM: Good morning, Dave and Alison, if you are heading out to watch the ball drop on Times Square this weekend, bundle up. Bring every piece of winter gear that you own -- 11 degrees, that's the official midnight forecast. When you factor in the wind, it will feel like a mere three below zero. And that puts it at the coldest New Year's Eve forecast in New York City since 1962. It could top out the top three ever.
4:54 a.m. ET
BRIGGS: In a tweet as bizarre as it is lacking in scientific knowledge, the President suggested climate change could be a good thing, apparently not realizing climate change and weather, not exactly the same thing. While on vacation in sunny Florida, the President firing off this tweet.
[reads Trump's tweet]
(...)
4:56 a.m. ET
DAVE BRIGGS: The important distinction here is not whether you believe climate change is manmade or not. We don't have enough time to debate that this show. But just acknowledging the difference between local weather and climate is an important distinction for all of us, certainly our President.
(...)
5:20 a.m ET
BRIGGS: In case you hadn't noticed it is freezing cold outside -- the obvious answer is more global warming. We end 2017 the way we spent so much of it -- reading bizarre tweets from the President of the United States, in this case confusing global weather with global climate.
(,,,)
6:00 a.m. ET
BILL WEIR: President Trump also made news last night with a tweet, tweeting that the East Coast could use a bit of that "good old global warming" as bitter cold temperatures grip much of the nation. Mr. Trump once again trying to undermine the science behind climate change, ignoring the fact that the rest of the planet is above normal temperatures as something that he repeatedly called a hoax.
(...)
ALISYN CAMEROTA: So I think the President just tweeted about global warming or how cold it is, and maybe we put that up.
[reads Trump tweet]
So obviously, David (Drucker), you know, the President has said it's a hoax. Every time it's cold out, that means global warming isn't happening.
WEIR: Just for reference, let's put up a map of the entire red planet, and, as you can see, the bright red spots are where it's above normal temperatures, and the Arctic is the most alarming part of that. And the blue swath that we're living through right now is just a small part of a big heated planet. It's sort of like not understanding when the sun goes down in your neighborhood, it's not down everywhere.
