California Gov. Jerry Brown suggests on climate change, Trump doesn't fear 'the Lord' or 'the wrath of God'

(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter/60 Minutes)

published 11 December 2017

Southern California is burning, just weeks after a sizable part of Northern California's wine country went up in flames. Gov. Jerry Brown (D) cites climate change as a significant contributing factor. "These fires are unprecedented, we've never seen anything like it," and "all hell's breaking loose," Brown said on Sunday night's 60 Minutes. "Scientists are telling us, this is the kind of stuff that's gonna happen," he said, and California is "not waiting for the deniers" to prepare for the new normal.

Brown said President Trump was wrong to remove the U.S. from the Paris climate change accord, making America the only country in the world that isn't a signatory, and when reporter Bill Whitaker asked if he's scared, Brown got biblical. "I don't think President Trump has a fear of the Lord, the fear of the wrath of God, which leads one to more humility," Brown said. "And this is such a reckless disregard for the truth and for the existential consequences that can be unleashed."

Before running for office, Trump wasn't viewed as particularly religious, though now he is very popular among certain groups of Christians. Brown spent three years studying to be a Catholic priest before leaving the seminary, getting a law degree, and becoming a four-term governor of California. On Sunday, Brown also made the business case for battling climate change.