White House counselor Kellyanne Conway criticized CNN’s Chris Cuomo during a primetime interview on Wednesday for asking about climate change as rescue operations continue for the victims of Hurricane Harvey.
She told Cuomo that she was not going to “engage in that right now” because President Trump, Vice President Pence and the rest of the country is focused on helping millions of affected Texans.
“Chris we’re trying to help the people whose lives are literally under water and you want to have a conversation about climate change,” Conway said after Cuomo asked about addressing climate change in the wake of the storm, according to The Hill.
Cuomo kept pressing, asking Conway about finding ways to reduce the number superstorms, whose greater intensity has been tied to warmer oceans that are a result of climate change. Conway responded: “You’re going to play climatologist tonight?”
She continued by saying if he was going to play climatologist, she was going to play “professional helper to those in need, and continue in my job here, as counselor to the president, to help listen to the Cabinet members, the president, the vice president, FEMA, DHS and others.”
She said she would discuss climate change at another time.
Harvey first made landfall last week at a Category 4 hurricane and the flooding from its record-breaking rainfall has claimed the lives of at least 38 people, according to The New York Times.
In the past, President Trump has expressed doubt about climate change, calling it a “Chinese hoax” on Twitter. His administration has also rolled back numerous policies put in place by the Obama administration to address the issue and has removed numerous government webpages discussing the scientific evidence of its existence. And Trump disbanded a federal advisory panel that reported on climate change earlier this month, according to The Hill.
You can watch the video above.
Thanks for reading InsideHook. Sign up for our daily newsletter and be in the know.
