Biden calls climate change deniers ‘Neanderthals’ during border speech in Texas

President Biden began his remarks during a Thursday visit to the southern border in Texas by addressing a devastating wildfire in the state’s panhandle and Oklahoma before calling climate change deniers “neanderthals.”

Speaking in the border city of Brownsville, Biden first addressed the ongoing wildfire that has ravaged a portion of Texas and destroyed more than one million acres. 

“I’ve flown over a lot of these wildfires since I’ve been president,” Biden said. “Flown over more land burned to the ground. All the vegetation gone more than the entire state of Maryland in square footage.”

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President Joe Biden delivers remarks during a visit to the southern border as Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, looks on, Thursday, in Brownsville, Texas. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

“The idea there’s no such thing as climate change. I love that, man,” he added. “I love some of my Neanderthal friends who still think there’s no climate change.”

Biden didn’t mention Republicans, but he has criticized the GOP in the past for disputing global warming. When the National Climate Assessment, which details climate change impacts, was released in November 2023, Biden blasted the party. 

“Anyone who willfully denies the impact of climate change is condemning the American people to a very dangerous future. Impacts are only going to get worse, more frequent, more ferocious and more costly,” he said at the time. “None of this is inevitable.”

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Border Patrol agents look on as President Biden delivers remarks during a visit to the southern border in Brownsville, Texas, on Thursday. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

After his brief climate change remarks, he further criticized Congress for failing to pass bipartisan border legislation. 

“This bill was on its way to being passed. Then it was derailed by rank-and-file politics,” he said. “The U.S. needs to reconsider this bill and those senators who oppose it need to set politics aside and pass it on the merits.”

“The majority of Republicans and Democrats in both houses support this legislation until someone came along and said ‘Don’t do that. It’ll benefit the incumbent,'” Biden added. “That’s a hell of a way to do business in America for such a serious problem. 

President Joe Biden, center, looks over the southern border on Thursday with Peter Flores, right, deputy commissioner for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Jason Owens, Chief, U.S. Border Patrol and Gloria Chavez, Sector Chief, U.S. Border Patrol. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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He urged former President Trump to “join me” in telling Congress to pass a border security bill. 

Earlier, Biden visited the Rio Grande and received briefings from Homeland Security officials. Meanwhile, Trump also visited the border some 300 miles away from his successor in Eagle Pass, Texas. 

“This is a Joe Biden invasion,” Trump said of the border crisis.