Molly Prince on May 22, 2019
More than two-thirds of Democrats believe Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s claim that “the world is going to end in 12 years if we don’t address climate change” despite the congresswoman saying that “you’d have to have the social intelligence of a sea sponge” to take her literally.
“Millennials and people, you know, Gen Z and all these folks that will come after us are looking up and we’re like: ‘The world is gonna end in 12 years if we don’t address climate change and your biggest issue is how are we gonna pay for it?’” Ocasio-Cortez said during an interview in January.
The freshman congresswoman also doubled down on the claim in April, again warning that there is only 12 years remaining and that “for everyone who wants to make a joke about that, you may laugh, but your grandkids will not.”
Ocasio-Cortez later flipped her position in early-May, referring to the 12-year deadline as merely “dry humor + sarcasm” and asserted that those who took her literally “have the social intelligence of a sea sponge.” She also contended that it was members of the Republican Party taking her literally.
This is a technique of the GOP, to take dry humor + sarcasm literally and “fact check” it.
Like the “world ending in 12 years” thing, you’d have to have the social intelligence of a sea sponge to think it’s literal.
But the GOP is basically Dwight from The Office so who knows. https://t.co/pmkwrdeAnq
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 12, 2019
However, a recent poll shows that an overwhelming majority of her own party took her claims literally. Sixty-seven percent of Democrats believe that the U.S. has only 12 years to aggressively fight climate change or else there will be “disastrous and irreparable damage to the country and the world.” Only 48 percent of total likely voters believe the statement.
While conducting the survey, the poll did not identify Ocasio-Cortez or any other politicians who promulgated the 12 year deadline.
Interestingly, at least five of the Democrats seeking the party’s presidential nomination have repeated the false talking point including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and California Sen. Kamala Harris.
The Rasmussen Reports poll was conducted between May 20 and 21. It was composed of a sample size of 1,000 likely voters with a 3-point margin of error.
Ocasio-Cortez’s office did not return The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
