President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord was, in part, motivated by his resentment for elitist hypocrites who ride around in private jets and SUVs while warning about global warming.
“This is religion for the political left, and our supporters are constantly being asked to change their behavior,” a top White House official told Axios, who added that “snarky comments” from European leaders also encouraged Trump to withdraw.
The White House official said “Trump resented the corporate critics who ‘ride in fossil-fuel-guzzling planes and SUVs, then act holier-than-thou,'” according to Axios.
Trump announced he would withdraw the U.S. from the Paris agreement, which the Obama administration joined in 2016 after years of negotiating with United Nations member countries. Some 147 countries have ratified the Paris agreement.
Trump said the Paris agreement was poorly negotiated and would harm the U.S. economy. Trump said the deal transferred wealth from the U.S. to economic rivals, like China and India.
“I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris,” Trump said.
The liberal hypocrites Trump railed against in private were among the most distraught with his decision to withdraw from the Paris accord.
Former Vice President Al Gore, for example, bashed Trump’s decision and said he would recut the end of his second global warming film. Gore regularly flies private jets and is escorted to events in SUVs with a full security detail.
Actor Leonardo DiCaprio criticized Trump’s decision to withdraw from Paris. DiCaprio has himself been heavily criticized for warning about global warming while riding in private jets and renting mega-yachts for parties.
Trump promised to “cancel” the Paris agreement on the campaign trail, but his own administration was split on the issue. Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson were among those who favored staying in the Paris agreement.
White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt favored exit and had been working behind the scenes for months to hold Trump to his campaign promise.
The Trump administration will begin the process of withdrawing from the Paris agreement, which will take at least until November 2019. The agreement doesn’t allow signatories to pull out for three years after it goes into force.
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