Harris' 2023 clip discussing ‘climate anxiety’ in youth resurfaces, Internet dubs it 'fear mongering'

Donald Trump Jr shared a video from 2023 showing Kamala Harris commenting that the youth are experiencing 'climate anxiety'
PUBLISHED JUL 28, 2024
Vice President Kamala Harris's 2023 remarks on 'climate anxiety' resurfaced online, sparking online debate (Jim Vondruska/Getty Images)
Vice President Kamala Harris's 2023 remarks on 'climate anxiety' resurfaced online, sparking online debate (Jim Vondruska/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC: A 2023 video of Vice President Kamala Harris resurfaced online where she claimed young people were undergoing "climate anxiety," forcing them to rethink their future regarding having children and buying a home due to the fear of the unknown.

Former president Donald Trump's elder son, Donald Trump Jr, shared the nearly-year-old video on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, July 27, with the caption, "Resurfaced video shows Kamala Harris suggesting that young people should not have children due to climate change."

The Democratic presumptive nominee made the comments to an audience at Reading Area Community College in Berks County, Pennsylvania, on September 19, 2023, during her national Fight for Our Freedoms college tour.

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA - FEBRUARY 23: Donald Trump Jr. speaks to media at a rally for his father, Republican Presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump on February 23, 2024 in Charleston, South Carolina. South Carolina holds its Republican primary on February 24. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Donald Trump Jr shared Vice President Kamala Harris' 2023 video, where she talked about 'climate' anxiety' among youth (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

What did Kamala Harris say about 'climate anxiety' in resurfaced video?

Kamala Harris, who entered the 2024 presidential race a week ago after President Joe Biden suspended his re-election bid and endorsed her, had weighed in on the fight against the climate crisis. At the time, she noted the record young voter turnout for the Biden-Harris ticket in 2020 inspired the administration's student loan forgiveness plan, which the US Supreme Court recently blocked.

"We're not going to stop fighting for that. Because young people said, we're not leaving it to other people to decide how we're dealing with the climate crisis," Harris said in 2023, according to Fox News.

"You know, I've heard young leaders talk with me about a term they've coined, 'climate anxiety,'" she continued, defining the term as the "fear of the future and the unknown of whether it makes sense for you to even think about having children, whether it makes sense for you to think about aspiring to buy a home because what will this climate be?"



 

Donald Trump and Joe Biden's opposing views on climate crisis

Donald Trump and Joe Biden were poles apart regarding the climate crisis. While the 45th president dwelled on his belief climate change was a "hoax," the Biden administration made tackling the climate crisis one of the primary agenda.

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a visit to Wolfspeed, a semiconductor manufacturer, as he kicks off his Investing in America Tour on March 28, 2023 in Durham, North Carolina. Biden asserts that his Investing in America agenda has led to the strongest job growth in history, over $300 billion in major private sector investments nationwide, stronger infrastructure, and a Made in America manufacturing boom that is strengthening supply chains and national security.
Tackling the climate crisis was a primary focus of President Joe Biden's administration (Getty Images)

For instance, the very first thing the 46th president did on his first day in office in January 2021 was to rejoin the Paris Agreement that his predecessor withdrew in 2017, claiming the accord was "very unfair at the highest level to the United States.

In addition, Biden committed to the cause in 2021, setting a new national goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% to 52% from 2005 levels by 2030, as per the World Resources Institute.

On the other hand, a potential second term for Trump could jeopardize the octogenarian's climate change goals.

 Republican presidential candidate, former US President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event on January 06, 2024 in Newton, Iowa. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Donald Trump might reverse the climate agenda of Biden's administration if he wins a second term (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

For example, Project 2025, a presidential transition plan launched by the Heritage Foundation if the real estate mogul wins in November, would prioritize reversing Biden's environmental agenda. It suggested an immediate flipping of the Democrat's "radical climate agenda" and "war on fossil fuels" and restoring the Trump-era policies along with revoking the Inflation Reduction Act, Clean Energy Corps, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, and the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations.

Kamala Harris's 'climate anxiety' remarks in resurfaced video sparks online debate

Netizens were divided into two camps, responding to Kamala Harris's remark on "climate anxiety" among young people. While one group deemed it as "fear mongering," another group debated the significance of understanding the threats of the climate crisis.

"Fear mongering is what it is," a user argued. Whereas another wrote, "That’s not a lie. Young people are very anxious about this very issue."

"Kamala Harris blames 'climate anxiety' for young people not having kids or buying homes. But isn't it really about Biden's rising costs? We need real solutions, not fear-mongering," added a user.

While another response read, "She never called them childless cat ladies though. And climate change is a real threat."



 



 



 



 

"Deeply disturbing. Rooted in the climate change fear mongering is a post human, population control narrative which has done in a few interviews," someone else claimed.

On the other hand, an individual said, "Oh boy are we having trouble understanding again? Everyone who isn't in denial about global warming has had this debate. And then people who have made peace with that are choosing to not have kids cos you all destroyed the economy and they simply can't afford to have kids."

"This is how they control the masses: using Climate Change as a weapon to cause fear and despair about the future so that they can appear to be saviors by fighting it," read a remark.

While another user wrote, "Climate change is real. We just need to stop politicizing it."



 



 



 



 

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.

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