President Donald Trump blasted former Secretary of State John Kerry over his climate activism during an Iowa town hall on Wednesday, calling his efforts “disastrous” and saying he “has to be stopped.”
Trump accused Kerry of “crusading around the world killing our relationships” and “destroying our country” with his global climate agreement initiatives.
“John Kerry has … come along, he has to be stopped. He has to be stopped. That’s why I got elected,” Trump said.
The president went on to argue that the emissions-reducing goals outlined in Kerry’s Paris climate accord were too stringent and that the agreement would place an unfair burden on the US economy.
“You know, the Paris Climate Accord that he was so gung-ho on, would have taken away all of our jobs,” Trump said.
Kerry, an architect of the Paris climate accord, has not stayed quiet in the wake of Trump’s decision to withdraw from the agreement. In 2017, Kerry launched the World War Zero coalition, a group of high-profile celebrities, former US government officials, and activists aimed at combating climate change.
