President Donald Trump on Thursday made good on his campaign promise to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord, signed under former President Barack Obama, and the reactions from the Hollywood elite did not disappoint.
To quote the former commander-in-chief, “the election’s over.”
And, to think, if he’d (Obama) elected to ratify this treaty via a U.S. Senate vote, undoing this agreement by Trump would have been impossible.
Alas, Obama had zero chance of securing said two-thirds required for ratification from the Senate — and the reason for this and other shortfalls is, of course, a whole different story.
“The first reason is straightforward: The Paris Agreement is a treaty. President Obama, aware that the accord would struggle to meet the two-thirds threshold required by the Constitution’s Treaty Clause (Article II, Section 2), engaged in extravagant rhetorical contortions to avoid calling the Paris Agreement what it was. President Trump could send a clear signal about the limits of presidential power by delivering the accords to the Senate for “advice and consent.” As James Wilson, a key Founding-era political thinker and a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, explained: ‘Neither the President nor the Senate, solely, can complete a treaty; they are checks upon each other, and are so balanced as to produce security to the people.'”
So, to quote another distinguished former lawmaker, who happens to hail from Nevada…
Yet despite these pronouncements and declarations from elected public servants, sometimes there’s no better gauge of the public pulse than the hot takes that emanate from America’s favorite un-elected entertainers.
Behold, a smattering of the most notable reactions from Hollywood in response to Trump’s Parisian opt-out.
Michael Moore:
Trump just committed a crime against humanity. This admitted predator has now expanded his predatory acts to the entire planet. #ParisAccord
If this is true he will have the death of whole nations on his hands. People will be looking to the USA for retribution for what they loose. https://t.co/SDnsYSswyv
If you care about your kids maybe reconsider your #ParisAgreement decision. Barron will thank you when he sees you, whenever that is. https://t.co/Wfb8SSksjT
Our children & our grandchildren have all just been handed a dark future because of a man who tweets at 3:00 AM & doesn’t “trust” science 😉👌 https://t.co/UWJWiZijfo
