Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) downplayed the effects of climate change, calling it “bullish*t.”
“I don’t know about you guys, but I think climate change is, as Lord Monckton said, bullsh*t,” Johnson said. CNN noted Johnson did not utter the expletive but mouthed it.
He added, “By the way, it is.”
Watch the video below:
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) calls climate change “bullshit” at a Republican women’s luncheon in Wisconsin last month. pic.twitter.com/DXG8QAZ2t6
— The Recount (@therecount) July 7, 2021
Lord Christopher Monckton is a British conservative climate change denier, as CNN reports.
Johnson then reportedly said, “What are we doing here? Well, we’re killing ourselves.”
He added, “It’s a self-inflicted wound.”
The comments were made earlier in June to the Republican Women of Greater Wisconsin Luncheon at Alioto’s in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.
Johnson has rejected the idea that he is a climate change denier.
He told CNN in a statement, “My statements are consistent. I am not a climate change denier, but I also am not a climate change alarmist. Climate is not static. It has always changed and always will change.”
According to the outlet, Johnson claimed in 2016, “Mankind has actually flourished in warmer temperatures.”
He continued, “I just think the question always is what is the cost versus the benefit of anything we do to try and clean up our environment.”
During the Republican luncheon, Johnson also said the media and Democrats used COVID-19 and climate change to establish a “state of fear” and “control.”
“It was all about creating the state of fear as they tried to do with global warming. Oh, I’m sorry. It’s climate change now. Yeah. Whatever works,” Johnson said, according to CNN.
He went on, “Whatever works that they can, you can set up a state of fear so they can step in and alleviate their fear.”
According to a draft report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, leaked to the media in June, “Life on Earth can recover from a drastic climate shift by evolving into new species and creating new ecosystems…humans cannot.”
It continues, “The worst is yet to come, affecting our children’s and grandchildren’s lives much more than our own.”