Fox News reporter Todd Piro was perplexed Thursday morning when he interviewed a Missouri diner patron who turned out to support raising taxes to pay for the Green New Deal, a Democratic-backed climate proposal introduced by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
Fox & Friends regularly features segments in which a reporter or one of their co-hosts visits greasy spoons to see what “Real Americans” think about today’s hot topics. In this instance, Piro traveled to The Corner Cafe in Riverside, Missouri to talk to patrons about independent presidential candidate Howard Schultz’s positions. (The former Starbucks CEO is appearing at a Fox News town hall in Kansas City.)
After getting some opinions on border security and immigration, Piro moved on to a young voter named Jack, who said he really wants Schultz to talk about climate change and the Green New Deal.
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“It’s really important we keep below two degrees Celsius of average warming, otherwise the consequences are going to be devastating,” Jack told the Fox reporter.
Piro asked how we’ll pay for the deal, prompting Jack to counter by invoking World War II and saying “when something is this important, our economy is going to suffer if we don’t pay for it.”
The Fox & Friends correspondent then wondered why the young man felt climate change was on the same level as World War II, only for Jack to highlight that while roughly “400,000 Americans died” during that war, “climate change is killing 150,000 people per year, at least.”
After Piro once again asked how Americans will pay for the Green New Deal, Jack replied that during WWII the government raised taxes and fronted cash, eventually causing stimulation of the economy.
“So to review, you are in favor of raising taxes in order to support the Green New Deal?” a confused Piro asked.
“If that’s the optimal solution economists sort out, I will go with that,” Jack responded.
And with that, Piro quickly moved on to the next patron, asking him about the fact that he prays for the president every night.
