Jimmy Kimmel, 2 kids, CNN's Chris Cuomo, and Don Lemon school Trump on global warming in frigid weather
The upper Midwest and adjacent areas are being slammed by a polar vortex of swirling frigid air, and President Trump used the occasion to ask in a tweet: "What the hell is going on with Global Waming? Please come back fast, we need you!" Just to be clear, Jimmy Kimmel said on Tuesday's Kimmel Live, "global warming is a hoax invented by the Chinese, according to the president. 'Global Waming' is a hoax invented by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley in 1982."
"But this is a Hall of Fame tweet," Kimmel said. "Is he really that ignorant that he doesn't know climate change is responsible for extreme temperatures, including cold? Is he dumb, or is he just pretending to be dumb? I think we give him the benefit of the doubt and say he's actually dumb. And if that's the case, since he doesn't seem to understand climate change, we invited a couple of children who do to break it down for him." And Apollo, 8, and 10-year-old Kaitlynn did a pretty good job.
"I give him points for 'hell' and 'global warming'— I wonder if that was intentional," CNN's Chris Cuomo said after reading Trump 's tweet. "And spelling? Well, that's extra credit for this president." He briefly explained that "weather" is different than "climate," and laughed when Don Lemon appeared in strange winter garb. "This is an argument I should be having with Cha-Cha — you know, 'But Daddy, it's cold outside, there is no global warming,'" Cuomo said. "She turns 9 in a few days."
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Lemon noted that NOAA, the Pentagon, and the U.S. intelligence community agree that climate change is a very real threat. Cuomo and Lemon agreed Trump's probably just playing politics by denying climate change. "It would be stunning that anyone who has any knowledge and any education, that they wouldn't believe in actual science and scientists," Lemon said. Watch below. Peter Weber
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
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