Morning Joe co-host Joe Scarborough had a heck of a time Tuesday getting an answer out of EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt on whether President Trump believes in climate change. Scarborough started out his interrogation by insisting the question was "simple": "Does [Trump] still believe that it was a hoax launched in China?"
It didn't get him far. "I think what's important, Joe, is that the president has said when you make decisions on environmental decisions internationally that we put America’s interests first," Pruitt said, not at all addressing Scarborough's question regarding Trump's China claim, which he made in a tweet in 2012.
After more dodging by Pruitt, Scarborough delivered an ultimatum. "This interview has to stop in its tracks until I just get a yes-no answer from you on whether you believe it's important that Americans find out whether their president believes that climate change is a conspiracy theory based out of China," Scarborough said.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Pruitt finally answered, saying Trump "has indicated the climate is changing." "There's a human contribution to it, measuring that with real precision is very difficult," Pruitt said. When pushed to provide more details, Pruitt accused the hosts of Morning Joe of asking the question "to get away from the merits of the Paris accord."
Still, Pruitt gave more of an answer than he did at Friday's White House press briefing, when he dodged the question on three separate occasions.
Watch Scarborough struggle to get a straight answer out of Pruitt below, starting at the 4:46 mark. Becca Stanek
-
China and Taiwan's war of words ahead of anniversary paradeUnder The Radar Neighbours both claim to have led the fighting during World War Two
-
Epstein files: Maxwell courts a pardonFeature A new prison transcript shows Ghislaine Maxwell praising Trump as 'a gentleman' while denying his involvement in the Epstein scandal
-
Pentagon readies military deployment in ChicagoFeature The Pentagon is preparing to deploy thousands of Illinois National Guard members to Chicago after Trump threatened to send troops into other major cities
-
At least 800 dead in Afghanistan earthquakespeed read A magnitude 6.0 earthquake hit a mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan
-
Massive earthquake sends tsunami across PacificSpeed Read Hundreds of thousands of people in Japan and Hawaii were told to evacuate to higher ground
-
FEMA Urban Search and Rescue chief resignsSpeed Read Ken Pagurek has left the organization, citing 'chaos'
-
Wildfires destroy historic Grand Canyon lodgeSpeed Read Dozens of structures on the North Rim have succumbed to the Dragon Bravo Fire
-
Search for survivors continues after Texas floodsSpeed Read A total of 82 people are confirmed dead, including 28 children
-
EPA is reportedly killing Energy Star programspeed read The program for energy-efficient home appliances has saved consumers billions in energy costs since its 1992 launch
-
US proposes eroding species protectionsSpeed Read The Trump administration wants to change the definition of 'harm' in the Environmental Protection Act to allow habitat damage
-
Severe storms kill dozens across central USSpeed Read At least 40 people were killed over the weekend by tornadoes, wildfires and dust storms
