Sen. Amy Klobuchar was slammed Tuesday for appearing to suggest that voting for Democrats within the November midterm elections could help thwart hurricanes and the results of climate change.
“We just did something about climate change for the primary time in a long time,” Klobuchar (D-Minn.), a former presidential candidate, told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” as she ticked off recent legislative wins for her party, including the climate change-focused Inflation Reduction Act that President Biden enacted last month.
“That’s why we’ve got to win this as that hurricane bears down on Florida,” the senator added. “We’ve got to win within the midterms. We understand that.”
Critics quickly accused Klobuchar of attempting to rating political points from a looming natural disaster — as Hurricane Ian strengthened right into a mammoth Category 3 storm and churned closer to the Sunshine State.
“The brand new science: so the hurricane is punishing Floridians for voting Republican, not since it’s a seasonal event and has been since before this grift,” former NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch tweeted. “Nice sentiment @amyklobuchar as persons are fleeing inland and praying they don’t lose their homes.”
The RNC Research account tweeted a clip of Klobuchar’s statement, asking: “Did Amy Klobuchar just suggest voting for Democrats will stop hurricanes?”
“Sen. Amy Klobuchar bizarrely suggests that voting for Democrats in 2022 will one way or the other stop hurricanes,” the Tea Party Patriots account added.
Here’s every part to learn about Hurricane Ian:
Meanwhile, foreign policy analyst Nile Gardiner slammed Klobuchar’s comments as “disgraceful.”
“The Left never miss a chance to sell their destructive agenda, even when a hurricane threatens tens of millions of Americans,” he said.
“Disappointing,” tweeted Clifford May of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “I may need expected higher from her. She’s purported to be one in all the adults within the room. Fact check: Nothing Biden has done or is doing could have any measurable impact on climate change. This isn’t in serious dispute.”
“Here’s what she is saying while SHAMELESSLY politicizing a significant hurricane bearing down on our families here in Florida right away,” added former Congressman Trey Radel. “‘Give us — your trustworthy politicians — extra money and we are going to fix the weather.’”
“This is the reason many individuals have such a tough time taking anything climate change seriously,” mused NewsBusters managing editor Curtis Houck. “You will have individuals who think a singular event means something far grander and sinister and spending money will thwart it.”
“The ‘trust the science’ gang really wants you to consider that tax credits to assist their wealthy donors buy electric cars .. will stop hurricanes,” joked Republican strategist Matt Whitlock.
Klobuchar’s comments got here as Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned of “catastrophic” and “life-threatening” flooding as residents braced for Hurricane Ian to make landfall.
“What now we have here is actually historic storm surge and flooding potential,” DeSantis said, cautioning residents that Ian’s impact was “imminent.”