GOP Posts Crudely Edited Copy of State of the Union Speech, Deletes Sections on Climate Change and Antisemitism
I started to write “unbelievable,” but this is sadly all too believable — and horrifyingly emblematic of a political party that is quite literally denying reality: Republicans Post Doctored Version of State of the Union, Censor Facts on Climate Change.
(The video above is set to start right before the clumsy edit.)
In the website’s “enhanced webcast” of the State of the Union speech, President Obama’s comments criticizing Republicans for saying they are “not scientists” when it comes to climate change are erased.
At the 43:25 minute mark, President Obama is supposed to say “I’ve heard some folks try to dodge the evidence by saying they’re not scientists; that we don’t have enough information to act. Well, I’m not a scientist, either. But you know what — I know a lot of really good scientists at NASA, and NOAA, and at our major universities. The best scientists in the world are all telling us that our activities are changing the climate, and if we do not act forcefully, we’ll continue to see rising oceans, longer, hotter heat waves, dangerous droughts and floods, and massive disruptions that can trigger greater migration, conflict, and hunger around the globe.”
And that’s not all. The Republicans also edited out Obama’s remarks denouncing the rise of antisemitism.
The 43:25 minute mark is not the only place where the video is edited. At the 44:51 minute mark, a section is edited out where Obama spoke of respecting “human dignity,” prohibiting torture, and speaking out against anti-Semitism. The section that is edited out reads as follows: “As Americans, we respect human dignity, even when we’re threatened, which is why I’ve prohibited torture, and worked to make sure our use of new technology like drones is properly constrained. It’s why we speak out against the deplorable anti-Semitism that has resurfaced in certain parts of the world.”
The reason why they removed the climate change section is obvious - they’re in massive denial about this issue. But it’s also obvious that they took out the reference to rising antisemitism because it conflicts with their propaganda that Obama is anti-Jewish.
