 2024 presidential candidate RFK Jr aka the worst Kennedy held a dinner with press in New York City about his campaign and The entire dinner reportedly got derailed by a heated debate about climate change and also by a fart I'm not making this up folks now I think that the Daily Beast probably had my favorite headline quote a gigantic fart derailed RFK Jr's press dinner report Very poetic now We're not gonna dive into that article because I know that you're gonna want the full story So instead we will go to page six who's going to offer us a firsthand account of the shenanigans quote The gaseous exchange to which page six bore reluctant witness began after a guest asked Kennedy a founder of the ecological Organization Waterkeeper Alliance about the environment and it seems that the mere inquiry was enough to set off apparently drunk gossip Colonists turned flak Doug Deckard the host of the event who became enraged and screamed at the top of his lungs The climate hoax Meanwhile octogenarian art critic Anthony Hayden guest who appeared to have been sleeping happily for most of the dinner Was aroused by the abrupt rumpus He suddenly opened his eyes and denounced his longtime pal Deckard calling him a miserable blob Shut up implored Hayden guest Hayden guest tells us he was not asleep I was just thinking he told us and says he is the one who asked the question about the environment Deckard continued to scream wildly about the climate change quote scam While Hayden guest peppered him with verbal volleys from across the table calling him variously fucking insane and insignificant meanwhile Kennedy a prospective president of the United States watched calmly here It seems Deckard sensed the need for a new rhetorical tack and Let rip a loud prolonged fart While yelling as if to underscore his point. I'm farting The room which included a handful of journalists as well as Kennedy's campaign manager former representative Dennis Kucinich was stunned Seemingly unsure about whether Deckard was farting at him guest personally or at the Or at the very notion of global warming the candidate maintained a steady composure in the face of the crisis I mean if you can keep your composure in the face of crisis like that Where somebody is farting at someone very loudly and yelling I'm farting I don't know if he said it like that, but that's how I imagine it You know, I do have to admit anyways that you know if you can hold your composure during that You are definitely capable of being the commander-in-chief of the United States now There's a lot to say about this story, but my first reaction. I think obviously is What the fuck and I just love how the article framed it as well We don't know if Deckard was farting At the person he was debating or if he was farting at the notion of global warming in general I Would kill for a video or even audio, but I've got to ask them listen when he did fart Did he like turn because then I think it's logical to deduce that he was directing the gas at his debate opponent But if he just farted then I think that he's more farting on this notion of climate change Yeah, now after the fart temporarily derailed the entire event it reportedly became a screaming match once again So the fart kind of broke up the monotony there and then they just went back to yelling at each other now Deckard did apologize for farting Saying quote I apologize for using my flatulence as a medium of public commentary in your presence. I I How do you even talk about this story this is This is a dinner by press from a presidential candidate and the host is saying I'm I'm sorry that I I'm sorry that I farted at the dinner Honestly though a climate denier using his asshole to engage in climate denial is actually very appropriate in my opinion But this is what happens when you are a conspiratorial kook who surrounds himself with another conspiratorial Nut job and other conspiratorial nut jobs and you think that RFK jr. Being an environmental lawyer Would be pretty clear on the issue of climate change, right? So that way these types of people wouldn't be in his vicinity wouldn't be hosting events for him But he's been incredibly wishy-washy on the issue of climate change and has arguably dog whistled to climate deniers on Many occasions for example Here's what he just tweeted quote climate change is being used to control us through fear Freedom and free markets are a much better way to stop pollution Polluters make themselves rich by making the public pay for the damage they do you show me a polluter I'll show you a fat cat using political cloud to escape the discipline of the free market Yeah, so this tweet is so dumb that there is actual dimensions and layers to the stupidity I'd actually argue that the fart is a more intelligent argument than this fucking tweet right here. That's That's how bad it is I'm not gonna be able to get over the fart people. So just just deal with it So first of all nobody is being controlled by climate change coverage I don't know what he's even referring to there large multinational corporations are continuing to destroy our planet for short-term profits and governments are letting them so Who's controlling who if anyone's doing the control? It's the large motion at multinational corporations who are buying off the governments and allowing them to continue to do this Furthermore the fear is valid, right? I mean he says that fear is being used to control us I don't see evidence of that, but the fear is valid. We are feeling fear and dread because we're facing an existential crisis I think that is just a human and normal response to Something that none of us can really control this is something that governments have to agree to do and they have not therefore I think the fear and the depression that this causes That doesn't make us unreasonable. It makes you unreasonable for not being fearful of the future I mean, it's a comment that is so ludicrous that it is indistinguishable from satire It's some don't look up shit, right? But then in the next sentence he contends that free markets are the solution when No Capitalism is what got us here. Just 100 corporations are responsible for 71 percent of global co2 emissions according to a 2017 report So to say that free markets are going to be the solution Don't you think that they would have already provided us with a solution given the gravity of the situation? But don't worry because he's going to contradict himself in the very next sentence and make that point for me by saying Polluters make themselves rich by making the public pay for the damage. Okay, so maybe the free market isn't the best solution Then is that what you're telling me? Then he finally says You show me a polluter. I'll show you a fat cat using political clout to escape the discipline of the free market Okay, so what exactly is the conclusion then is The free market bad should governments enforce discipline through regulations It almost seems like he's trying to take a both sides approach to climate change And he's being unclear because he wants to straddle the fence But even though he's trying to pay lip service to both sides and have it both ways This just comes off as incoherent babble to me, right? But this is why climate deniers and conspiracy theorists are attracted to him, right? Because he has plausible deniability in both ways, you know If you want to believe that he isn't a climate denier Well, he's an environmental lawyer and he's acknowledged the reality of anthropogenic climate change But on the opposite side of the same coin people who are climate deniers have said oh well He's using fear and that's true. You know, this whole climate hoax is about fear now We just we have to point this out, right? These are just a couple of headlines from the last week drought and extreme heat burn through farmers margin for error And it's only July recent rains have so far spared growers from the worst But harsh conditions fueled by climate change are still taxing irrigation systems and threatening crop yields in bread basket states Here's another one climate change safe havens can still get hit hard Vermont's flooding is a reminder two months of rain fell in two days in Vermont and left some towns under water Here's another one extreme heat wave continues in Houston Scientists are already warning that 2023 could be the hottest year on record and finally here's another one floods fires and deadly heat Are the alarm bells of a planet on the brink and I just want to pause right there to put things in a perspective Because we're just looking at a couple of headlines from the United States but if you zoom out and you really see how climate change is affecting people around the world it is Utterly overwhelming, right? It is Reasonable to see these headlines see what's happening how it's already affecting us and think about the future and how much worse It's gonna get but I want to dive into that Washington Post article because I think it gives us a good sense as to how fucked We are when it comes to climate change quote the world is hotter than it's been in thousands of years And it's as if every alarm bell on earth were ringing the warnings are echoing through the drenched mountains of Vermont Where two months of rain just fell in only two days India and Japan were deluged by extreme flooding They're blurring from the scorching streets of Texas, Florida, Spain and China with a severe heat wave also building in Phoenix and the Southwest in coming days They're burbling up from the oceans where temperatures have surged to levels considered beyond extreme and they're showing up in Unprecedented still burning wildfires in Canada that have sent plumes of dangerous smoke into the United States Scientists say that there is no question that this cacophony was caused by climate change or that it will continue to intensify as the planet warms So basically all of the planets alarms are going off and lawmakers around the globe are basically plugging their ears and pretending like It's not happening even though the writing is on the wall now if that doesn't strike fear in your heart Then nothing will I'd argue that you're the one who's weird for not being Afraid of what's to come when the writing is very clearly on the wall for our species now anyone telling you to not believe your lying eyes despite all this evidence and Anyone who's calling this a hoax or dog whistling to climate deniers? I genuinely believe that they are complicit in the demise of our species and that includes you RFK Jr And yes, I did turn a video about a fart into a video about climate change I mean you got me. How am I going to get you to eat your vegetables, right? But while we're on this subject of RFK, I do think that it's worth exploring Other areas where this individual has been peddling dangerous Alex Jones level misinformation for years And climate change is going to be one of the main ones that has the broadest implications along with Anti-vaxxers right because he has a very large platform and he has lots of influence But when it comes to other more fringe ideas that he's espousing I don't think that it's uncharitable to say that his misinformation mirrors that of Alex Jones Because let's just recall what Alex Jones said in this famous meme and then I'll show you what RFK said as well And I think that you'll be able to easily spot the similarities So that's a meme right it's funny it's Alex Jones nobody takes him seriously right but let's listen to how similar RFK juniors claims are courtesy of CNN and Keep in mind that this is somebody who is not widely regarded as a crazy person or You know somebody who lies and spreads misinformation even if a lot of people acknowledge that this is somebody with a lot of legitimacy So let's listen. He has suggested that man made chemicals found in the water could be making children gay or transgender He's also suggested a conspiracy that these same chemicals could be responsible for making boys more feminine and girls More masculine now experts that we spoke to strongly Pushed back on these claims take a listen to just a couple of those comments from Kennedy There's atrazine throughout our water supply atrazine by the way If you in a lab put atrazine in a tank full of frogs It will chemically castrate and force forcibly Feminize every frog in there. We're seeing these anomalies which are no longer anomalies But in sexual development in boys and girls, but particularly girls getting you know Nowadays commonplace for nine and ten year olds to get their periods Now we talked to experts and they told us that this was basically comparing apples to oranges Look where humans frogs are amphibians for humans sex is determined at the moment of conception for frogs They can be determined by a number of things including environmental factors So we posed this question to the Kennedy campaign How does he respond to what the experts told us about what he said and here's what they told us a spokesperson for Kennedy said he is merely Suggesting that given copious research on the effects on other vertebrates this possibly deserves further research Yeah, so what he's saying there is indistinguishable from Alex Jones But yet Alex Jones gets made fun of for saying that whereas RFK junior gets platformed by people like Jordan Peterson and others So it's more dangerous when people with legitimacy say these things spread these Conspiracies because more people are likely to believe it and the reason why these types of conspiracy theories are so compelling to normal people is Because thinking about what's in our water and our food being concerned about that is a very rational human thing We're all concerned about that right furthermore a lot of these conspiracy theories They are derived from a kernel of truth, right? So if somebody asserts something and they say it confidently and you personally don't know the particulars And you're not able to interpret this very technical scientific study It's very easy to get duped by what these people are saying Now I want to show you what I mean by this and kind of tell you why I just demonstrate how these types of conspiracy theories are Formed so let's go to political fact So in response to Kennedy saying that atrazine in water is turning kids trans political fact Obviously finds that statement false, but I want to show you how he arrived at this conclusion So let's look at these bullet points here So it starts on the bottom here with the kernel of truth a 2010 UC Berkeley study found that some frogs lost fertility and Grew ovaries when they were exposed to atrazine But then they also claim that atrazine is in the water and that's true And then you learn that atrazine is linked to potential health issues within the realm of reproductive health And has also been linked to kidney disease So after hearing him say what he said maybe you're skeptical at first because it sounds a little bit absurd But then you look it up and you'll find out that he's actually correct about specific details within what he's saying The problem is that the conclusion itself is not correct But it's intuitively true to somebody who is not trained to interpret these studies that he's looking at Or who doesn't really know about biology, right? So it seems reasonable to assume that what he's saying is correct, right? he is making this jump from point A to point B to point C and It looks like it's plausible But he doesn't have enough evidence to make those logical leaps and that's where the problem lies, right? It's not that every single thing that he's saying is incorrect He sprinkles in facts, but the problem is he doesn't point out that well Correlation doesn't necessarily equal causation just because there's a link between atrazine and low birth weight, for example That doesn't mean specifically that atrazine is the cause of this phenomenon So the potential health risks need to be studied further because the link doesn't necessarily mean cause He's not explaining this. He's not adding those caveats He's just saying it affirmatively and confidently and that's where people get misled Also, there's been no established link between homosexuality gender dysphoria and atrazine But despite the lack of a basic correlation or any evidence RFK He takes it one step further, right? when the biology of frogs are brought up he Makes it seem as if well if it applies to frogs obviously it's gonna apply to human or affect humans the same way But that that just no no Because frogs and humans are very different biologically, right? So these Tactics here whether he's using them wittingly or unwittingly This is how conspiracy theories gain prominence because that kernel of truth can hook people and once that trust Is established between the lay person and the person disseminating these conspiracy theories They then are more or more open to listening to more conspiracy theories, right? Perhaps anti-vax conspiracy theories. So they kind of get into some sort of rabbit hole Once there's that buy-in and that's the problem and whenever RFK is pressed on this He always pivots back to his usual defense to give himself plausible deniability He'll say something to the effect of well, I'm just suggesting more research, right? But that's not what you insinuated when you were talking about this, right? Even if that is the case and we're being as charitable as possible You're playing very loose with the facts and you're not being clear in the language that you're using So weasels like him are extremely hard to pin down all conspiracy theories are very hard to pin down For this reason because again it goes back to that kernel of truth that hooks people But in conclusion getting back to the fart. I'm glad that the old men yelling at each other Disrupted this press event and I'm also glad that the fart Disrupted this press event because he deserves nothing less. I hope that the fart was very stinky and it made his eyes water But I mean this goes without saying probably you are the company you keep right? So a farting possibly pension in climate denier is Exactly the type of person that I would expect to host the dinner with this loon