Joy Behar and Meghan McCain of ABC’s “The View” feuded on Wednesday — surprise, surprise — this time over whether or not prominent liberal activists who “lecture” Americans about climate change but fly private jets or do business with companies backed by big oil and gas interests are hypocritical.
The panel discussed the National Climate Assessment report the government released over Thanksgiving weekend. The 1,600-page report urged the U.S. to take drastic steps to address and prevent climate change, warning of disastrous global consequences otherwise.
But President Donald Trump and White House press secretary Sarah Sanders expressed skepticism over the report on Tuesday. Sanders said during a press briefing while the Trump administration supports “clean air” and “clean water” and “continues to be a leader on that front,” it doesn’t buy into all of the report’s “radical conclusions,” which were based on “the most extreme modeled scenario.”
“The View” co-hosts predictably greeted Trump’s and Sanders’ skepticism with mockery and derision — before Behar and McCain threw the segment into chaos.
“Well, this is the most aggravating topic of all because it affects everybody. I think these people would rather have a billion dollars in the bank than breathe. I really do,” Behar (pictured above left) said. “They’d rather have money than breathe.”
That’s when McCain (above right) pointed to former Vice President Al Gore, whom she dubbed “the king of climate change.” Gore, an avid environmentalist and controversial climate change activist, wrote the global warming documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” which won two Academy Awards.
But Gore also sold his flopped liberal cable network, Current TV, to Qatar-based media network Al Jazeera in 2013. Qatar is known for its lucrative oil and gas industries.
“Well, do you think Al Gore would rather have $100 million in the bank than breathe because he sold Current TV for $500 million to Al Jazeera, [whose] gross domestic product is oil and gas?” McCain shot back at Behar. “He made oil money.”
Behar noted that she was “no fan of Al Gore personally” because she had a show on Current TV and “lost my show because of him.”
“But he’s the king of climate change. There’s so much hypocrisy on the Left with this. I’m sorry,” McCain said before pointing to actor and prominent climate change activist Leonardo DiCaprio, noting that he “had 418 tons of CO2 last year” in his own carbon footprint.
DiCaprio has often come under fire for his vast use of private jets.
“He’s an actor,” Behar argued. “He can’t make policy.”
McCain insisted, “He’s a huge climate change person,” adding, “You want to change hearts and minds? Stop lecturing Americans.”
Even co-host Whoopi Goldberg admitted that she uses private planes “because I don’t want to be on a plane where I got to talk to a million people when I have to get where I’m going.”
“So, yeah, there are some things that I’m going to be guilty of because I do not — contrary to popular belief — I don’t walk on water,” Goldberg joked.
“But I know. So yeah, there is a lot of garbage there.”
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Co-host Sunny Hostin tried to excuse Goldberg’s habit of flying in private planes, noting that Goldberg does it because she has “a fear of flying that everybody knows.”
“But this is my issue with this. Climate change is not a Left or a Right issue, so to point out hypocrisy on the Left or point out hypocrisy on the Right — I have kids that are inheriting, you know, shorter winters, longer summers. They’re not going to be able to breathe,” Hostin said.
“The water is heating up,” she added. “That’s what we need to be talking about, not that Al Gore sold something or Leo —”
McCain interrupted Hostin before snapping at the audience to “please stop clapping so I can finish.”
“Al Gore made ‘An Inconvenient Truth.’ He’s the biggest — he’s the face of climate change, hands down,” McCain said. “The United States is on track to make our emissions target for the Paris Climate Agreement. Most European countries aren’t.”
“So please don’t sit here and lecture me,” McCain continued. “I believe in climate change, as well. I also don’t believe when people like Al Gore and people like Leonardo DiCaprio, with this kind of carbon footprint — that average Americans in between should be penalized.”
“I have a problem across the board with the messaging from the Left to average Americans,” McCain added.
Watch more of the explosive segment below:
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