Tim Scott: It’s ‘ridiculous’ to talk about climate over border emergency

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) on Wednesday said it’s “ridiculous” to talk about a climate emergency when the country is facing an emergency at its southern border.

During an interview on “Fox & Friends,” Scott, who is running for the GOP presidential nomination, was asked about President Biden’s recent interview with The Weather Channel, in which the president said that “effectively speaking,” he already declared a national emergency concerning climate change. 

Fox News’s Brian Kilmeade asked Scott why he believed Biden, who did the interview from the Grand Canyon where he had established a new national monument, did not instead do the interview near the southern border. Scott visited the southern border at Yuma, Ariz., last week.

Calling it “a dereliction of duty,” Scott continued, “Let’s be clear about it. President Biden has failed this nation, especially in declaring the actual emergency, which is an emergency at our border. Fentanyl has killed 70,000 Americans; he should reinstate Title 42 for a health emergency called fentanyl. It’s killing Americans.”

“We have an unsecure, wide open and unsafe border that could be closed with a southern border wall,” he continued. “He refuses to complete the wall, and he also refuses to use the available technology like seismic monitors so that the [CPB] can do their jobs better.” 

“This is ridiculous to talk about a climate emergency when we have a border emergency that is an existential threat right now,” he added.

Asked if he believed people were experiencing climate change and if it was caused by fossil fuels, Scott said “the climate is obviously changing” while arguing Americans should not be offshoring jobs to countries “that have not impacted their actual carbon footprint.”

Scott was also asked during the interview about former President Trump and the first GOP debate. Trump has not yet committed to participating in the Aug. 23 debate in Milwaukee, but Scott said he hoped to see Trump there.

“I hope President Trump comes to the debate stage and participates. He’s a strong debater without any question. It will be entertaining without any question,” Scott told Kilmeade.

“But the American people deserve to see every single one of us that qualifies for the debate stage on that stage talking about our vision for America and how our presidency would change the tide away from this terrible, disastrous presidency of President Biden,” he added.

The Hill has reached out to Scott’s campaign for further comment.