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.

  • barrbaric [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    1 year 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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      1 year 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.

      • barrbaric [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        1 year ago

        I mean yeah. All they need to do is say “woke” a bunch of times and they’ll be within spitting distance of the presidency.

        • letsgocrazy@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          That wouldn’t be a problem if so many far left people weren’t so insufferably woke. You can pretend it’s something made up by the right - but I’ve voted Labour all my life and I’m sick to death of wokeness.

          • HornyOnMain [she/her]@hexbear.net
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            1 year ago

            That wouldn’t be a problem if so many far left people weren’t so insufferably woke. You can pretend it’s something made up by the right - but I’ve voted Labour all my life and I’m sick to death of wokeness.

            I wonder why so many trans people become communists when even the supporters of the left wing liberal parties openly oppose their existence 🤔

            • letsgocrazy@lemm.ee
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              1 year ago

              “oppose their existence”

              Bullshit.

              People who supper trans people 100% but yet think that self-id and trans people being in Ellen’s sports is problematic are being called “terfs” and “transphobes”

              It’s just insanity.

              People like you with absolutely no sense of perspective are doing more harm to trans people than anyone else.

              • UlyssesT [he/him]@hexbear.net
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                1 year ago

                It’s just insanity.

                Fuck off with that ableist “people that disagree with me are mentally ill and mental illness is for bad people” shit.

                • letsgocrazy@lemm.ee
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                  1 year ago

                  “ableist”

                  I mean there you are, you’ve just proved my point for me.

                  You just want to score moral outrage points because you’re a narcissist.

                  Conversations with people like you are never productive because you are addicted to the outrage / moral reinforcement mechanism you’ve built for yourself.

                  • UlyssesT [he/him]@hexbear.net
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                    1 year ago

                    you’ve just proved my point for me.

                    You had no point to make except you’re a bigoted piece of shit.

                    You just want to score moral outrage points

                    Outrage about outrage is still outrage, except you’re outraged that people care too much.

                    because you’re a narcissist.

                    You’re projecting, hard.

                    Conversations with people like you are never productive

                    Then shut the fuck up and stop replying, you bigoted piece of shit.

          • UlyssesT [he/him]@hexbear.net
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            1 year ago

            That wouldn’t be a problem if so many far left people weren’t so insufferably woke.

            Get that divisive nazbol shit out of here, bootlicker.

            • letsgocrazy@lemm.ee
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              1 year ago

              Ahh yes, calling people nazis and boot lickers isn’t divisive.

              You people are the new Christian Right from the 90s.

              • UlyssesT [he/him]@hexbear.net
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                1 year ago

                Ahh yes

                reddit-logo style opener. I know everything after that is going to be smug centrist garbage.

                calling people nazis and boot lickers isn’t divisive.

                Fuck you. It’s stupid to not divide away from nazis and nazi enablers. Sit down with ten nazis, you just made a table of eleven nazis.

                You people are the new Christian Right from the 90s.

                And you’re the same kind of useless liberal that let Hitler take the chancellorship and thought it was a smart compromise.

            • letsgocrazy@lemm.ee
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              1 year ago

              You know sometimes when you meet a Christian person, and you only find it out later? But they were really respectful, down to earth, helpful and generally seems like a good person and member of their community? The kind off person that volunteers to drop of a second hand sofa in their station wagon?

              And you know how sometimes you get Christians that are constantly trying to use their religion to imply moral superiority? Forcing other people to do what they want? Having shameful public displays? Trying to erode the rights of women and gays? Screeching Karens who seem totally disconnected from anything even slightly spiritual?

              Woke people for me are more like the social justice equivalent of the second care category.