Mother Jones illustration; Gerald Herbert/AP(2)
During Thursday’s presidential debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, moderator and CNN anchor Dana Bash asked Trump what, if anything, he’d do to address climate change.
Last year, Bash noted, was the hottest year in recorded history: “Communities across the country are confronting the devastating effects of extreme heat, intensifying wildfires, stronger hurricanes, and rising sea levels,” she said, pointing out that Trump has vowed to repeal Biden’s climate initiatives. “But,” Bash asked, “will you take any action as president to slow the climate crisis?”
Trump dodged the question, instead opting to speak on criminal justice reform and immigration. Bash asked him again, “Thiry-eight seconds left. Will you take any action as president to slow the climate crisis?”
“I want absolutely immaculate, clean water,” he said. “I want absolutely clean air. And we had it. We had H20.” (The “immaculate” water line is something Trump has said before.) “During my four years,” he added, “I had the best environmental numbers ever. My top environmental people gave me that statistic just before I walked on the stage actually.” (It’s unclear what Trump meant here, but during his time in office, Trump gutted dozens of environmental rules.)
Biden, whose debate performance was widely seen as being lackluster, responded emphatically, saying that he’d passed “the most extensive climate change legislation in history.”
“I don’t where the hell he’s been,” Biden said. “The cleanest water? He hadn’t done a damn thing for the environment.” Biden pointed out that Trump pulled out of the Paris Agreement, which Biden re-joined. “The only existential threat to humanity is climate change, and he didn’t do a damn thing about it.” Trump, meanwhile, had insisted the agreement would be a “rip off” for the United States.
Biden, with the last word, said, “The idea that he claims that he has the biggest heart up here, and he’s really concerned about pollution and climate—I haven’t seen any indication of that.”
