Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden had to swat away a large bug Monday during a speech on the effects of climate change and “environmental justice.”
“The brunt falls disproportionately on communities of color, exacerbating the need for environmental justice,” Biden said before having to slap away an insect crawling up his neck. “Sorry that was a bug, speaking of the environment.”
WATCH:
Huge bug attacks Joe Biden as he talks about ‘environmental justice’ pic.twitter.com/6U2RluGRaY
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) September 14, 2020
The former vice president blasted Trump for his “climate denial” and added that four more years of his policies would lead to more natural disasters. Biden left the podium shortly after finishing his speech, declining to take questions from the press. (RELATED: Here’s How Trump’s Environmental Legacy Stacks Up With Obama’s Record)
“Meanwhile, Donald Trump warns that integration is threatening our suburbs. That’s ridiculous,” Biden said later on in the speech. “You know what is actually threatening our suburbs? Wildfires are burning the suburbs of the West. Floods are wiping out suburban neighborhoods in the Midwest.”
He continued, “Hurricanes are imperiling suburban life along our coast. If we have four more years of Trump’s climate denial, how many suburbs will be burned in wildfires? How many suburban neighborhoods will have been flooded out? How many suburbs will have been blown away in superstorms?”
Trump has double down on his claim that the west coast wildfires were not a result of climate, but instead from forest “mismanagement.”
Trump reiterates claim that wildfires in the West are a result of forest mismanagement, not climate change pic.twitter.com/d1KwBcthxu
— Bloomberg QuickTake (@QuickTake) September 14, 2020
Biden’s speech comes amidst the growing summer wildfires that have ravaged much of Northern California and Oregon, causing over 20 deaths and leaving several cities with smoggy air quality.
Trump traveled Monday to California to meet with local communities suffering from the fallout of the fires. During a roundtable briefing on the wildfires in California with Governor Gavin Newsom, Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad Wolf and others, Trump suggested there isn’t a scientific consensus regarding climate change’s role in the recent California wildfires.
:I don’t think science knows actually,” he said.
Currently, Biden leads the president by 7.4%, according to a polling average from RealClearPolitics. A Fox News poll released Sunday showed the former vice president’s lead dropping down to 5%.