After the network showed a clip of a young conservative activist saying that climate change was the number one issue for young voters, Fox News moderator Martha MacCallum asked for a show of hands in response to her question, “Do you believe human behavior is causing climate change?”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis refused to participate, and then GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy declared, “I’m the only person on the stage who isn’t bought and paid for, so I can say this: The climate change agenda is a hoax.” A crowd full of Republicans started to boo.

Most of the Republicans on stage fell short of completely denying that climate change is caused by human activity. Ramaswamy, perhaps taking a page out of the Trump playbook of making the most outlandish comment possible, came right out and said it.

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie shot back, “I’ve had enough already tonight of a guy who sounds like ChatGPT.” Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley went so far as to venture, “Climate change is real.”

But moderator Bret Baier seized not on Ramaswamy’s blatant denial of the scientific consensus on climate change, but on his claim that he was the only candidate on the stage who was “not bought and paid for.” Baier took turns asking candidates, “Are you bought and paid for?” In classic Fox News fashion, a moment that could have provided insight into how far Republicans are willing to go to please young voters concerned about the environment devolved into senseless crosstalk. Still, for a party that has spent years ignoring or denying the biggest threat to our planet’s future, tonight’s responses were actually, almost, a little bit refreshing.

  • Rapidcreek@reddthat.com
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    11 months ago

    Outright climate denial, avoidance of actually engaging the question, and zero mention of any policy Republicans might advance on climate.

    • hansl@lemmy.ml
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      11 months ago

      It’s even funnier when considering they could suggest climate denying policies and still don’t.

      They have no platform. Literally. Not even a regressive one.

      • barrbaric [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        11 months ago

        Them having a platform is irrelevant. Trump is going to be the nominee, almost certainly even if he’s actually found guilty and ends up in prison (which I doubt will ever happen). This is all just a marketing exercise for the other candidates.

        Also if they’re getting booed for denying climate change(?), then they’re better off just being silent on the campaign trail while continuing to support the oil sector once in office. Hell, they could even pivot to what the dems do by campaigning on it and doing nothing if their base starts to make it an issue.

        • hansl@lemmy.ml
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          11 months ago

          I’m talking about the republicans overall. In the general they better have a platform but it seems this is going to be a repeat of 2020.

      • P03 Locke@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        11 months ago

        “My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub.” - Grover Norquist

        That’s always been their platform. They just don’t say the quiet part out loud very often.

        • n0m4n@lemmy.ml
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          10 months ago

          Republicans tell their base that they want to cut government, but always act otherwise. Controlling government purse strings is political power and economic power. There may be shell games played that transfers spending, but Republicans do not cut government, nor their power.

    • duderium [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      11 months ago

      Outright climate denial, avoidance of actually engaging the question, and zero mention of any policy Republicans might advance on climate.

      Democrats will admit that climate change is real but either do nothing to stop it or keep making things worse (with Biden signing more oil drilling permits than Trump because he is a puppet of the bourgeoisie, like every elected official in the country).

    • MorgoFett@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      They seem to have a bone to pick with China and any renewables manufactured there.

      -This message was unironically posted from a Chinese made iPhone.

      • someguy3@lemmy.ca
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        11 months ago

        Well yeah you’d prefer to manufacture it in the US. Biden did that with the IRA. But that won’t stop Republicans from shouting C-c-China.

          • Arotrios@kbin.social
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            11 months ago

            You’ve got one on kbin too - @some_guy - a racist, bigoted fascist who likes to obsessively troll people and try to dox them.

            It took me a moment to determine whether or not you were the same person, but unlike him, you can speak in complete sentences. As such, I thought I’d give you and @someguy3 a heads up that your good names are being dragged through the mud.

            • some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org
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              11 months ago

              That sucks. Thanks for the heads-up. I’m getting the impression that kbin might be a haven for shitheads. Is this accurate? (Asking the room in general.)

              • Arotrios@kbin.social
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                11 months ago

                Actually Kbin is great for tracking shitheads, which is why I’m able to call this guy out. Downvotes are visible on the activity tab of each post and comment, and this troll loves downvote spam - as you can see, he downvoted my comment above. He’s the kind that will stalk your account and downvote everything to try and get your attention.

                In general, 99.9% of the community here is awesome, and there’s a lot of support between users here. It’s actually the best experience I’ve had online in many years (and I’ve been online since the early 90s). One of my goals in calling out the trolls when they decide to target me is to keep the community enjoyable, as I’m quite certain I’m not their only intended victim.

          • Kichae@kbin.social
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            11 months ago

            Just waiting for the 2nd amigo to show up so you guys can commence with the Mexican-Spider-Man-point-off.