Al Gore compares ‘climate deniers’ to Uvalde police officers

Former Vice President Al Gore compared "climate deniers" to those law enforcement officials who waited more than an hour to attack the gunman in Uvalde, Texas, who killed 21 students and teachers.

"You know, the climate deniers are really in some ways similar to all of those almost 400 law enforcement officers in Uvalde, Texas, who were waiting outside an unlocked door while the children were being massacred," he said in an interview with host Chuck Todd to air Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." "They heard the screams, they heard the gunshots, and nobody stepped forward."

He added about that May shooting: "And God bless those families who've suffered so much. And law enforcement officials tell us that's not typical of what law enforcement usually does. And confronted with this global emergency, what we're doing with our inaction and failing to walk through the door and stop the killing is not typical of what we are capable of as human beings. We do have the solutions."

Gore has long been one of the world's most prominent advocates of taking action to fight climate change. He acknowledged that President Joe Biden, due to the current makeup of the U.S. Senate, is limited in what he can do, but did say Biden, one of his successors as vice president, is having an impact.

"I welcome his announcement this week to jump-start the offshore wind industry in the U.S.," Gore said of Biden. "And he's taken quite a number of other important actions. And he's reversed some of the terrible policies of his predecessor. But he needs congressional action in order to take the bold steps that are really needed."

Gore added: "There are other things he can do. He ought to replace the head of the World Bank, for goodness sake. His predecessor put a climate denier in charge of the World Bank. And so we're not seeing the kinds of global policies that we should."

Gore was referring to David Malpass, whom former President Donald Trump nominated to the World Bank post in 2019.

On another topic, Todd noted that Gore was cited favorably by former Trump deputy national security adviser Matthew Pottinger at the Jan. 6 committee hearings for conceding defeat after the bitterly contested 2000 presidential election. Gore spoke of another of his successors, former Vice President Mike Pence, and his actions on Jan. 6, 2021.

"In the current environment, just doing what the law and the Constitution requires seems heroic to some. I'm glad he made that decision," Gore said.

Speaking on ABC's "This Week," Gore said he didn't think he did anything particularly noble by conceding defeat to Republican candidate George W. Bush on Dec. 13, 2000.

"All I did was Winston Churchill once said about the American people: The American people generally do the right thing after first exhausting every available alternative," he said.

Gore added: "When the fate of the country, and the traditions and honor of our democracy are at stake, it's not really a difficult choice."