Former Secretary of State John Kerry commended Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Tuesday for being more of a leader on climate change than President Trump has been.
Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., introduced a controversial resolution, the Green New Deal, earlier this year aimed at combating climate change. It has been widely mocked by Republicans for its ambitious goals, including achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the United States by 2030.
While testifying to the House Oversight and Reform Committee, Kerry criticized Republicans for attacking Ocasio-Cortez over her resolution but not proposing their own solutions to climate change.
“There are a lot of different proposals about how to proceed, I don’t know that any of them are coming from your party or your side of the aisle,” Kerry told Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., who asked the former secretary of state to explain how the Green New Deal would be paid for.
“Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez has in fact offered more leadership in one day or in one week than President Trump has in his lifetime on this subject,” he said.
Ocasio-Cortez later said she was “honored and humbled” by Kerry’s remarks.
[Related: Ocasio-Cortez: ‘We will have blood on our hands’ if we don’t act on climate change]
Sec. John Kerry: “Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez has in fact offered more leadership in one day or in one week than President Trump has in his lifetime on [climate].”
Honored and humbled.
Thank you, @JohnKerry. https://t.co/Z2jPDMbuR1
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 9, 2019
