California Gov. Jerry Brown compared President Donald Trump’s supporters to prehistoric cave dwellers during a climate change event in New York City on Monday.
“They’re both kind of very similar,” the Democratic governor said, Politico reported. “You should check out the derivation of ’Trump-ite’ and ’troglodyte,’ because they both refer to people who dwell in deep, dark caves.”
Mr. Brown, who on Saturday signed two bills that plan $1.5 billion in spending on California environmental initiatives, said Mr. Trump’s rhetoric and actions on North Korea and climate change are “stupid and silly.”
“President Trump is the null hypothesis, which he’s proven,” Mr. Brown said, Politico reported. “Everything he’s doing is … stupid and dangerous and silly. I mean, come on, really, calling the North Korean dictator ’Rocket Man?’ … He is accelerating the reversal through his own absurdity.”
“These other powers are going to gang up on Mr. Trump, and he’s going to find out, ’You’re fired,’ ” he reportedly said, noting that Mr. Trump will “fail very soon.”
Mr. Brown’s speech, the first in a series of climate talks, coincided with Mr. Trump’s meeting Monday with world leaders at the United Nations. The president on Tuesday will address the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly, in which climate change is expected to be a main topic.
Mr. Brown said he’s optimistic about his own climate change efforts.
“It takes what we’re doing today and this week, and all the other things that we have to do to finally put the nail in, I don’t want to say in Trump’s coffin. … That’s a tweet, so I better not do that,” Mr. Brown said, Politico reported. “But we’re getting there. We’re making change. So I’m very optimistic in the face of Washington’s absent leadership.”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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