'Cruel irony': Skeptical analyst trounces White House claim that Trump 'follows science'

CNN's chief climate correspondent Bill Weir scoffed Thursday at the White House assertion that President Donald Trump 'follows science.'

This week the Trump administration put out a statement, titled, "On Earth Day, We Finally Have a President Who Follows Science."

CNN's Dana Bash read part of the statement, saying the Trump administration was "leveraging environmental policies rooted in reality to promote economic growth while maintaining the standards that have afforded Americans the cleanest air and water in the world for generations."

The words were eyebrow-raising for Weir.

Bash continued, "So, the president, his first 100 days, he has reversed a lot of what the federal government has been trying to do across parties, across presidents, to slow the fight against the climate crisis."

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"And it's not just climate crisis work...it is air pollution, it is every kind of environmental protection is under the the DOGE chainsaw these days," Weir said. "And that headline about 'finally, a president that follows the science' is just cruel irony to the hundreds, thousands of scientists across different agencies that are being purged right now, from NOAA to NASA to even the department of education."

Weir listed off how the Trump administration has been "trying to attack any sort of environmental regulations," including firing 280 EPA staffers on Earth Day and cancelling green energy grants..

"What we're seeing is just ideological purging that really doesn't make any sense," Weir continued. "It's incoherent for the science. For example, he put out an executive order to prop up coal mining. Well, the only reason the country is not mining more coal is it would be more expensive. You would lose millions of dollars opening a new coal-fired power plant. Texas is the greenest state in the country when it comes to wind and solar and storage, not because they're woke. It's because the economics now, those are the cheapest forms of energy these days."

Weir was astounded that Trump also wanted to end "the forced use of paper straws because, according to a new report, paper straws contain dangerous PFAS chemicals that are bad for human health."

"Well, how about going after the PFAS chemicals or the microplastic pollution that is such a scourge globally?" Weir exclaimed. "None of that. So, it's cherry-picked to favor certain industries."

Watch the clip below via CNN or click the link.