Twitter Users Take The Air Out Of Trump's Bizarre Wind Boast
President Donald Trump reignited his vendetta against windmills at Thursday night’s presidential debate, setting Twitter alight when he made a bizarre boast to his Democratic opponent Joe Biden: “I know more about wind than you.”
The candidates were asked to discuss how they plan to combat climate change while supporting job growth. In his response, Biden said the solar and wind energy industries are booming, and pointed to Trump’s anti-scientific rhetoric about wind turbines.
“I know more about wind than you do,” Trump retorted. “It’s extremely expensive, kills all the birds, it’s very intermittent, it’s got a lot of problems, and they happen to make the windmills in both Germany and China. And the fumes coming up — if you’re a believer in carbon emission — the fumes coming up to make these massive windmills is more than anything that we are talking about with natural gas.”
Biden asked him to “find me a scientist who says that.”
Joe Biden: "He thinks wind causes cancer. Windmills. It's the fastest growing jobs..."
President Trump: "I know more about wind than you do. It's extremely expensive. Kills all the birds."#Debates2020 #debates
Full video: https://t.co/GMx4T2yMxi pic.twitter.com/TgsFwvv9T5— CSPAN (@cspan) October 23, 2020
Trump’s beef with wind turbines, which he calls windmills, goes way back. He has claimed that they destroy property values and that the noise from them causes cancer. (There is no evidence for either claim.) He has also said windmills can kill birds — and although they can indeed impact birds, the animals face many more significant threats, such as cats, cars and cell towers.
The president has been accused of launching his so-called “war on wind” after unsuccessfully suing to prevent a wind farm from being built in view of his luxury golf club in Scotland.
Twitter users pointed out that Trump has plenty of personal reasons to hate wind:
Fact Check: Donald Trump is correct when he says he knows more about wind than Joe Biden pic.twitter.com/kmwXLkuHkr
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) October 23, 2020
Trump hates wind because of his Implanted wig
pic.twitter.com/yPtxuJXKWp— Molly Jong-Fast🏡 (@MollyJongFast) October 23, 2020
Others, including the American Wind Energy Association, gave context to his claims:
EVERYTHING TRUMP JUST SAID ABOUT WIND ENERGY IS FALSE. TOTAL BULLSHIT. Wind is now often cheaper than fossil fuels, can support many jobs, and provides reliable power – esp. offshore, where wind blows strongly & more consistently. Our @UrbanOceanLab plan. https://t.co/LtzjBohKZG
— Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson (@ayanaeliza) October 23, 2020
Oh, and turns out that if you paint one of the turbine blades black, birds see it and don't hit it. Solved. Easy!
Also, you know what will "kill all the birds" – CLIMATE CHANGE.
So, I 💙 wind energy. https://t.co/MSkgIaggD3— Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson (@ayanaeliza) October 23, 2020
“Wind turbines are expensive... kill all the birds.”
- Trump pic.twitter.com/0sjmqc7lM8— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) October 23, 2020
Fact Check: #WindEnergy has some of the lowest environmental impacts of any source of #electricity generation. Since wind energy does not burn fuel to generate electricity, it does not emit any air pollutants or "fumes" such as carbon dioxide or sulfur dioxide. #Debates2020
— American Wind Energy Association (@AWEA) October 23, 2020
And some were simply baffled.
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Via pooler @rebeccaballhaus: "The audience was nearly completely silent during the debate, save for one giggle when Potus quipped: "I know more about wind than you do. It's extremely expensive. Kills all the birds.""
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) October 23, 2020
“I know more about wind than you....it kills the birds...” - our actual President
— Trae Crowder (@traecrowder) October 23, 2020
“I know more about wind than you do” is something I might have said to my sister when I was 7.
— Katie Hill (@KatieHill4CA) October 23, 2020
"I know more about wind than you do" says the guy who's been blowing hot air his whole life #Debates2020
— shauna (@goldengateblond) October 23, 2020
Trump to Biden: "I know more about wind than you do" #Debates2020 pic.twitter.com/w0iR2HQvNv
— Secular Talk (@KyleKulinski) October 23, 2020
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.