Irresistible as it may be to stare in wonderment at Inmate #P01135908’s mug shot, let’s give it a rest for a moment. We need to revisit a particularly noxious episode from the Republican “presidential” debate before it vanishes down the memory hole.
That was when the eight contestants were queried about a crucial issue that Republicans have long been loath to address: Climate change. Naturally they beclowned themselves, thus demonstrating yet again how out of step the party is with the American mainstream – most notably, with the young voters who will one day run the show.
Alexander Diaz, a student at the conservative Catholic University, appeared on video and put the Republicans on notice: “Polls consistently show that young people’s number one issue is climate change. How would you as both president of the United States and leader of the Republican Party calm their fears that the Republican Party doesn’t care about climate change?”
Hey, good question – considering what we’ve all endured this summer.
But if Alexander was hoping to get his fears calmed, if he was looking for assurances that Republicans do care, he clearly came to the wrong place. Because what happened next was a classic clustermuck.
Building on the youngster’s query, the Fox hosts asked for a show of hands: “Do you believe human behavior is causing climate change?” That was a non-starter. Ron DeSantis jumped in and said, “I don’t think that’s the way to do it.” He had two responses: (1) “One of the reasons our country has declined is because of the way the corporate media treats Republicans versus Democrats,” and (2) “Biden was on the beach while those people were suffering.”
His first response, a clumsy bit of demagoguery, was so broad as to be meaningless. His second response, a reference to the catastrophe in Maui, was a ham-handed attempt to change the subject. He also omitted the fact that the president has already dispatched 1000 federal personnel to Maui, along with more than $12 million in recovery aid. And, needless to say, he didn’t tell young Alexander that when he was asked last December whether Florida should do more to fight climate change – by, say, encouraging green technology and cutting carbon emissions – he’d quickly replied: “We’re not doing any left-wing stuff.”
Anyway, DeSantis’ non-answers were quickly trumped by vile Vivek Ramaswamy, who trumpeted his love for oil and coal: “I can say this – the climate change agenda is a hoax. The climate change agenda is a hoax. The reality is, the anti-carbon agenda is the wet blanket on our economy.”
Whoa now. It just so happens that 67 percent of Americans want to prioritize alternative energy sources, while only 32 percent still love fossil fuels, but MAGA’s Sammy Glick is cool with alienating the mainstream, particularly kids like Alexander. (By the way, he lied when he said that green policies are a “wet blanket” on the economy. International studies say otherwise. The Harvard Business School says otherwise.)
Chris Christie jumped in and yelled three times that Ramaswamy was just an “amateur” – not because of anything he’d said about climate change, but because, apparently, he’d earlier plagiarized one of Barack Obama’s old campaign lines. Meanwhile, Mike Pence stood there saying nothing, which was probably a wise decision, given his recently stated belief that the climate change issue is hyped by “radical environmentalists.” I doubt that would’ve played well with young Alexander.
Ramaswamy had also said that everyone on stage except him was “bought and paid for,” so that prompted lots of ostreperous crosstalk, consuming minutes that should’ve been devoted to climate change. Finally, Nikki Haley gave it a shot: “Is climate change real? Yes, it is.” Wow! She boldly went where nobody else dared to go. But did she think that America should do more to go green? Nah, let’s not get carried away.
She simply shifted the blame: “If you want to go and really change the environment, then we need to start telling China and India” to cut their emissions. Then she tried to blame Biden for something (natch): “Half of the batteries for electric vehicles are made in China. And so, that’s not helping the environment. You’re putting money in China’s pocket. And Biden did that.” Somehow, she omitted the fact that Biden – 10 months ago – awarded $2.8 billion to 20 U.S. companies in 12 states, so that EV batteries can be manufactured here at home, “to wean the country off supplies from China.”
Did anyone else say anything to allay young Alexander’s concerns about climate change? The Fox hosts teed up Tim Scott to say something, but this was all he had: “Going back and forth and being childish is not helpful to the American people to decide on the next leader of our country.”
Young Alexander, and his fellow members of Generation Z, would certainly agree with that. If alienation of the young is inexplicably a Republican goal, the current candidates need only hew to their current course.