It was an unusual opening for a Republican primary debate. Barely 20 minutes into the 2 hour GOP presidential debate on Fox News, moderators Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum played a video from Alexander Diaz, a student at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., who submitted a question on behalf of fellow young conservatives.
“How will you as both president of the United States and leader of the Republican Party calm their fears that the Republican Party doesn’t care about climate change?” Diaz asked.
The moderators then asked the eight candidates directly whether they believe human behavior is causing climate change.
They got very few direct answers — despite the overwhelming scientific consensus that climate change is driven by human activities, primarily burning fossil fuels.
“The climate change agenda is a hoax,” said former tech and finance executive Vivek Ramaswamy, in the night’s clearest answer. Former United Nations Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley acknowledged climate change is real but downplayed American responsibility, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sidestepped the question altogether. Many candidates did not answer.
Some young conservative climate advocates said the fact that the question was even asked marked progress. Polling shows that overall, Republicans are less likely to see climate change as a threat. But young voters across party lines list climate as a top issue. Strategists warn that if Republicans can’t talk about climate, they may lose the younger voting base crucial to swing race wins.
Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy got booed on stage during the first Republican presidential debate after asserting that climate change is a hoax.
The debate, hosted by Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, came to an unexpected turn when the hosts asked the candidates if they believe in human-induced climate change and would address young conservatives’ fears that the GOP party doesn’t care about the issue.
Ramaswamy did not mince his words as he claimed that the “climate change agenda is a hoax.”
“The reality is, the anti-carbon agenda is the wet blanket on our economy,” Ramaswamy said. “And so the reality is, more people are dying of bad climate change policy than they are of actual climate change.”
His response received loud boos from the audience.
A number of the other GOP candidates chimed in, countering Ramasamy’s narrative and asserting that Republicans do care about climate change.
“We do care about clean air, clean water,” Nikki Haley said. “And the right way to do it is, first of all, yes, climate change is real.”
Shortly after the moment, President Joe Biden tweeted a jab at Ramaswamy: “Climate change is real, by the way.”
The moment marked a subtle yet significant shift on the issue of climate change within the Republican Party. An issue that has rarely taken significance within GOP campaigns took a national front seat, with the moderators asking the presidential candidates whether or not climate change is real. — Conservative “Conservationists” followed up with a triumphal tweet.
This week has proven that the conservative environmental movement is more powerful than ever!
— American Conservation Coalition (@ACC_National) August 25, 2023
But anyone who actually watched the debate, noticed that when Brett Baier asked anyone who believed that climate change was real, and human caused, to raise their hand, — not one Presidential hopeful thought it was advantageous to do so – that the stage immediately dissolved into a cacophony with the only identifiable voices being Vivek Ramasmarmy, who called climate change a “hoax”, and Nikki Haley, who meekly volunteered that she liked clean water.
CLIMATE “HOAX” GETS SHORT SHRIFT: The first Republican presidential debate took an unexpected turn late Wednesday night as the issue of climate change and energy became front and center early on. But not everyone’s answers were welcomed by the audience.
Biotechnology entrepreneur Vivek Ramasamygot booed on stage after he claimed that the “climate change agenda is a hoax.”
Debate hosts Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum asked the candidates if they believed in human-induced climate change and how they would quell fears amongst young conservative voters that the GOP doesn’t care about the issue.
Ramaswamy’s response: “Let us be honest as Republicans. 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. … The reality is, the anti-carbon agenda is the wet blanket on our economy. And so the reality is, more people are dying of bad climate change policy than they are of actual climate change.”
The young entrepreneur’s denial of climate change got loud disapproval from the audience.
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The significance: While it was to be expected that the candidates would take their turns jabbing at the current president for his energy policies, what was unforeseen was the issue of climate change being addressed early on in the debate. An issue that has rarely taken precedence within GOP campaigns took a national front seat at the fore of the debate — and was framed as an important issue to young Republican voters.
Several conservative environmental groups watching the debate took note.
Danielle Butcher Franz, CEO of the American Conservation Coalition, told the Washington Examiner it was a “remarkable thing to see climate featured so prominently at the first GOP debate.”
“It was even more remarkable to hear an audience full of GOP primary voters booing climate denial. Last night made it clear that climate skepticism is no longer acceptable in our leaders — the conservative climate movement is here to stay.”
“Republicans have been working on economically sustainable climate solutions for years and it’s great to see the beginning of those policy debates take shape with the Presidential candidates,” Luke Bolar, chief external affairs officer of ClearPath Action, said in a statement.
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Meanwhile, while there were audible boos from the audience on his climate denial line, the candidate who made the biggest splash for Climate Denial, Mr Ramaswamy, came away as the buzziest performance of the night, something he was still crowing about in an interview hours later with ABC News.
The pathetic young Gen-Z tool who was chosen to ask the climate question was immediately grateful and begging for more humiliation.
Ominously for the GOP, if we can believe one measure of audience response, Ramaswamy’s Denial seemed to be getting some pretty negative response, in at least one focus group, from women in particular. That’s all Republicans need, is to find yet another way to alienate women.
As Vivek Ramaswamy called climate change a “hoax,” our independent dial participants’ attitudes dropped across the board, particularly among women. #GOPDebatepic.twitter.com/hV8vysdXbc
““Republicans have been working on economically sustainable climate solutions for years”
I’d love to see one.
Just one.
Anyone?
Bueller?