COMICSANDS
percolately
georgetakei
secondnexus
george's picks
Just about everyone loves The Muppets. And who doesn't love Kermit the Frog, who famously declared that "It's Not Easy Being Green?"
Well, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson might have a bone to pick with the famous amphibian, creating a rather awkward moment at this year's United Nations General Assembly.
Johnson, who in a speech pushed the world to "grow up" and tackle climate change, awkwardly knocked Kermit for being "wrong" about the future of renewable energy, declaring that it is, in fact, easy to be green.
The issue came down to Johnson's delivery, which you can watch in the video below.
And here's the clip: Boris Johnson references Oxford philosopher Toby Ord, Greek God Boreas and Kermit in his speec… https://t.co/xhE9WQdOMU— Alexander Britton (@Alexander Britton) 1632361828.0
The audience looked on in silence as Johnson awkwardly evoked Kermit's catchphrase:
"And when Kermit the Frog sang 'It's not easy being green. Do you remember that one?"
"I want you to know he was wrong. It is easy to be green."
"It's not only easy, but it's lucrative and it's right to green... ...even though he was also unnecessarily rude to Miss Piggy I thought, Kermit the Frog."
The speech didn't really go over well, with many shaking their heads at Johnson's delivery, which appeared to cloud his larger message.
Like so many others, I work hard to engage with a huge range of audiences to make science accessible. This is just… https://t.co/O47oTSSPJr— Prof Ben Garrod (@Prof Ben Garrod) 1632413150.0
When you come up with a banger tweet and it gets 0 likes. https://t.co/vMEzlKO6Hm— 𝙰𝚕𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 (@𝙰𝚕𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛) 1632395300.0
He seems to pause, as if expecting laughter. UN General Assembly - tough crowd. https://t.co/tbXBk4TTTx— Patrick Smith (@Patrick Smith) 1632387683.0
Time to be grown up on #ClimateChange says the man who quotes #KermitTheFrog at the #UN https://t.co/hXsNPwYbjW— 🏴 🦢N D L 🦢🏴 (@🏴 🦢N D L 🦢🏴) 1632421156.0
Oh, the embarrassment 🤦♀️ Boris Johnson quoting Kermit the Frog at the UN assembly. What a muppet.… https://t.co/ImoFg6J3zI— LisaB 🏴🇭🇰🇪🇺 (@LisaB 🏴🇭🇰🇪🇺) 1632395918.0
Seriously, this actually happend. #KermitTheFrog https://t.co/NSXlpb4wqT— 𝕁𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕁𝕒𝕫𝕫 (@𝕁𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕁𝕒𝕫𝕫) 1632421664.0
Can you think of a lower point British politics has been at? #KermitTheFrog https://t.co/0fcHmAH2ir— Giles Paley-Phillips (@Giles Paley-Phillips) 1632393578.0
Wondering just how many in the UN audience felt @BorisJohnson's reference to Kermit the frog ['It's not easy being… https://t.co/o4hHuvKMAZ— Paul Waugh (@Paul Waugh) 1632377950.0
Johnson's speech was otherwise rather pointed.
In it, he urged the world to take charge and move away from fossil fuels, which are dealing irreparable harm to the planet.
"We still cling with parts of our minds to the infantile belief that the world was made for our gratification and pleasure. And we combine this narcissism with an assumption of our own immortality."
"We believe that someone else will clear up the mess, because that is what someone else has always done."
"We trash our habitats, again and again, with the inductive reasoning that we've gotten away with it so far, and therefore, we'll get away with it again."
"My friends, the adolescence of humanity is coming to an end and must come to an end."
Johnson's past behavior, however, might be undercutting his message.
In June, he garnered heavy criticism for defending his use of a private jet to fly 250 miles from London to Cornwall for the G7 summit, where he and other world leaders discussed the impact of climate change.