‘Are You Serious?’: John Kerry Mocks GOP Congressman’s Nonsensical Attack on Climate Science

Former Secretary of State John Kerry mocked Kentucky Republican Congressman Thomas Massie (R-KY) for a ridiculous line of questioning that involved somehow discrediting climate change by noting that Kerry holds a political science degree.

At a Tuesday House Oversight Committee hearing entitled “The Need for Leadership to Combat Climate Change and Protect National Security,” Kerry and former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel testified about the national security threat posed by climate change, as outlined in a March letter from 58 senior military and national security leaders.

About halfway through the hearing, Massie took exception to Kerry’s opening remarks, in which he characterized Donald Trump‘s proposed task force to “counter” the scientific consensus on climate change as a “kangaroo court.”

Massie read that portion of Kerry’s testimony, in which he said “Instead of convening a kangaroo court, the president might want to talk with the educated adults he once trusted enough to fill his top national security positions.”

“It sounds like you are questioning the credentials of the president’s advisors currently, but I don’t think we should question your credentials today,” Massie said. “Isn’t it true you have a science degree from Yale?”

“Bachelor of arts degree,” Kerry answered.

“Is it a political science three?” Massie asked.

“Yes, political science,” Kerry confirmed.

After moving the poli-sci chess pieces a few more spaces, Massie moved in for the checkmate, telling Kerry “I think it’s somewhat appropriate that somebody with a pseudoscience degree is here pushing pseudoscience in front of our committee today.”

An incredulous Kerry asked “Are you serious? I mean, is this really a serious happening here?”

“You know what? It is, it is serious,” Massie retorted. “You’re calling the president’s cabinet a kangaroo court, is that serious?”

“I’m not calling his cabinet a kangaroo court, I’m calling this committee that he’s putting together a kangaroo committee,” Kerry responded.

“Are you saying that he doesn’t have educated adults there now?” an indignant Massie asked.

“I don’t know who he has yet, because it’s secret,” Kerry said, adding “Why would he have to have a secret analysis of climate change? Why does the president need to keep it secret?”

“Let’s get back to the science of it. Let’s get back to the science of it,” Massie insisted, as the chairman gaveled down the laughter and murmuring.

“But it’s not science, you’re not quoting science,” Kerry said.

When he “got back to the science,” Massie tried to argue that there was more CO2 in the atmosphere 200 million years ago than there is today, to which Kerry patiently replied: “Yeah but there weren’t human beings, I mean it was a different world, folks, we didn’t have 7 billion people here yet.”

“So how did it get to 2,000 parts per million if we humans weren’t here?” Massie asked triumphantly.

“Because there were all kinds of geologic events happening on Earth which spewed up…” Kerry began.

“Did geology stop when we got on the planet?” Massie asked.

“Mr. Chairman, this is just not a serious conversation,” an exasperated Kerry said.

And when Massie accused Kerry of failing to explain how to pay for compliance with the Paris Climate Accord, Kerry said “I did I talked about the carbon pricing, it’s one way to pay for change. That are all kinds of other things we could do. One would be to not give a trillion dollars worth of tax benefits to the top 1% of Americans. I have one I’m one of them, I didn’t deserve to get that tax cut, nobody did in this country at the expense of average folks who can’t make ends meet. So that would be a fair way to start.”

Watch the full exchange below, via the House Oversight Committee.

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