Senator Kelly Ayotte showed just how out of touch she is this week when she said that Donald Trump -- who would be the ONLY head of state in the world to deny climate science if elected -- is a good role model for our kids.
When asked whether or not she would point to Donald Trump as a role model, Ayotte said that “I believe he can serve as President, so absolutely.” She then tied herself up in knots explaining why she will vote for but not “endorse” him.
As parents, we struggle with what images our children are exposed to, because we know that the messages they are exposed to have an impact on their thoughts and actions. No mother wants her daughter exposed to Trump’s destructive comments on the body image of women. In this world where a secure economic future depends more and more on a quality education, no parent wants their child influenced by his rejection of scientific consensus. But that is who Senator Ayotte wants to hold up as a role model for our children – the future of America.
Our children will be the ones who have to suffer the deepening consequences of the climate crisis if we don’t act now. They need a role model and a leader who believes that fact, and who is willing to act. Donald Trump is certainly not that person. Donald Trump is a person who has demonstrated he is willing to compromise the future of young people at home and around the world due to his ignorance and extremism. That’s not a role model, that a perfect example of exactly what not to be.
But Senator Ayotte clearly doesn’t get it, or for political reasons she doesn’t want to admit it. If she were serious about the future we will leave for our children, Ayotte wouldn’t be telling our sons to think like Donald Trump or our daughters to listen to what he says -- and she certainly would not be voting for him. Instead, she would be calling out the profoundly negative consequences of his absurd comments and positions, including that the climate crisis is a hoax“created by and for the Chinese.”
Fortunately, there’s another candidate in this race, Governor Maggie Hassan, who is doing the responsible thing by calling out Trump on his lies and misogynistic comments. After the first Presidential Debate, Hassan called out Trump’s lies on issues like his insistence that he knows more than America’s generals about ISIS. She also pointed to the stunning array of national security and foreign policy experts from both parties who have declared Trump unfit for office.
As Governor, Hassan has been an environmental champion, signing bills that help New Hampshire’s coastal communities prepare for the effects of climate change, and putting into place new standards to cut carbon pollution from power plants. It’s clear that what New Hampshire needs right now is a Senator with a backbone to stand up for decency, who will stand with New Hampshire parents and their concerns for the future of their children, and who will stand in support of science.
Governor Maggie Hassan knows the harmful impact that Trump’s words can have on a teenage girl. She knows that an independent leader is someone that can stand on her own. Governor Hassan knows that the next Senator from New Hampshire must be willing to proactively lead the fight for clean air, clean water and climate action in the United States Senate. The Sierra Club knows that the clear choice for Senator is Governor Maggie Hassan.