Did Trump Call Global Warming a Chinese Hoax? (Yes. And Tonight He Lied About It.)

“I do not say that.”

According to Donald Trump, Donald Trump never supported the Iraq war; he never called pregnancy an “inconvenience” for employers; and he certainly never—ever—called climate change a Chinese hoax.

Trump, you’ll be shocked to learn, wasn’t exactly telling the truth. Let’s focus on the climate claim, which you can watch in the video above.

During Monday night’s presidential debate, Hillary Clinton said: “Donald thinks that climate change is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese. I think it’s real. I think science is real.”

“I did not, I did not,” countered Trump. “I do not say that.”

Clinton is correct. Here’s what Trump tweeted in 2012:

Trump has since suggested that this comment was a joke—a hilarious one, no doubt. Regardless, Trump has repeatedly called global warming a “hoax.” On Fox News in 2014, for instance:

And on Twitter:

More Mother Jones reporting on Climate Desk

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Owned by no one—except you.

We just keep seeing it happen: Newsrooms owned by billionaires and corporations are spinning their own narratives, overwriting the truth, following only stories that keep them in the pocket of those with even more power.

Not here. We’re not owned by anyone. We’re not part of any cult that demands our allegiance to a bottom line. We’ve spoken up and spoken out while other newsrooms changed their stories—or cut them altogether—to keep the C suite happy.

Our mission is to find the truth and amplify it. That’s why we’re independent, nonprofit, and, crucially, funded by readers. The investigations on our website will always be free to read, watch, and listen to, but our newsroom is powered by readers who pitch in what they can so we can keep asking the hard questions.

Can you chip in today?

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