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California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) lambasted President Trump on Wednesday, one day after the president called climate change “a con job.”
“What an abomination. What an embarrassment. What a fraud,” Newsom said at The New York Times Climate Forward event Wednesday, to applause.
Trump, speaking at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, said that climate change was “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on this world.” The president also criticized countries focusing on clean energy.
“If you don’t get away from this green scam your country is going to fail,” Trump told attendees. “And I’m really good at predicting things.”
Since returning to office in January, Trump has prioritized cutting environmental regulations. Earlier this month, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed revoking requirements for companies to report greenhouse gas emissions.
In July, the agency also proposed rescinding the 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding, which allows the EPA to regulate emissions from new vehicles and vehicle engines.
Democrats on Capitol Hill and the independent National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine have pushed back against the proposed rollback of the endangerment finding.
Trump has consistently dismissed the idea that human activity, in the form of greenhouse gas emissions, has contributed to global warming. The overwhelming majority of scientists say that humans have impacted the Earth’s climate, though.
“I say that as a guy that lives in one of the most crisis-prone states in America, but a state that’s seen lifestyles, places, traditions completely destroyed because of the reality of climate change,” Newsom said Wednesday.
The California Democrat, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, also criticized corporations that have “sold out” to the administration. He specifically cited General Motors (GM) and its CEO Mary Barra.
On Tuesday, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents GM, Toyota, Volkswagen and other major automakers, requested the repeal of vehicle emissions limits in a letter to the Trump administration, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“Corporate leaders, people are scared to death of this guy. It’s appalling, the complicity,” Newsom said. “The most successful, wealthiest people scared to death of this guy.”
The Hill has reached out to GM for comment on Newsom’s remarks.
