‘I TOTALLY GET IT’

Trump Privately Said Climate Change May Have Made CA Wildfires Worse After Denying It on TV: NYT

After denying climate change’s impact on West Coast wildfires, Trump said in private that “really it’s probably like 50-50.”

At a televised roundtable in Sacramento in September, President Donald Trump denied climate change contributed to a devastating California wildfire season. Off camera, however, he acknowledged the likelihood that it had, The New York Times reports. Speaking on camera with California Gov. Gavin Newsom and emergency responders, Trump claimed that “it will start getting cooler, you just watch” and that “I don’t think science knows, actually” what has made wildfires in the Golden State so much worse this year than before. Scientists overwhelmingly agree that climate change has increased the number of wildfires that have plagued the West Coast in recent months. After the public portion of the event concluded, Trump reportedly said to Newsom, “Gavin, I totally get it, and really it’s probably like 50-50.”