Former Vice President Al Gore said he tried and failed to bring President Donald Trump around on the topic of manmade global warming, claiming that “climate deniers” have “captured” the president’s mind.
“I haven’t had any conversations with [Trump] since his speech to withdraw from Paris. I tried my best and thought he’d come to his senses but I’ve been proven wrong,” Gore told The Guardian in an interview.
“I don’t feel I have the ability to change his mind. He’s surrounded himself with the absolute worst of climate deniers who seem to have captured his mind on the issue,” said Gore, who spoke alongside California Gov. Jerry Brown at the United Nations climate summit in Bonn, Germany.
Gore, Brown and former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg led their own delegation of U.S. states and cities pledging to meet the goals of the Paris climate accord. They hope to convince the rest of the world that the U.S. won’t actually be leaving the Paris deal.
“The US cities and states have made a tremendous difference and I think the reaction of the rest of the world has minimized the damage done by Donald Trump,” Gore said. “The reaction to Trump is if anything stronger than the actions Trump is taking.”
Trump announced in June that the U.S. would withdraw from the Paris accord, which he said hurt Americans workers and the economy. Under the terms of the accord, the U.S. can’t withdraw until at least November 2020.
Gore even suggested Trump’s presidency may end early, or at most is a temporary pause in the U.S.’s commitment to global warming.
“This experiment with Trump is less than a year old and in science, experiments are sometimes cut short early,” Gore said. “I’m not saying this will happen this time, but this feels like a movie I’ve seen before.”
“We went off the rails a bit in the last election. I think the rest of the world understands that the Trump period is an unfortunate departure from what the US is known for when we are at our best. Those who have appreciated US leadership grieve its loss and hope it’s temporary,” Gore said.
Gore’s suggestion that Trump’s presidency could be “cut short early” comes as hedge fund billionaire Tom Steyer, the Democratic Party’s largest single donor, pumps millions into television ads calling for lawmakers to impeach Trump.
Steyer gave $91 million to Democrats and liberal causes in the 2016 election, according to the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP).
Steyer gained notoriety funding anti-fossil fuel campaigns and founded NextGen Climate Action, which was created to make global warming a top tier election issue. Now, he’s focused on impeaching Trump.
“A Republican Congress once impeached a president for far less,” Steyer says an impeachment ad he funded. “And today, people in Congress and his own administration know that this president is a clear and present danger who is mentally unstable and armed with nuclear weapons.”
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