A concerned mother confronted President Donald Trump's scandal-plagued EPA Chief Scott Pruitt in a restaurant on Monday and urged him to resign before his "scandals push him out."
Kristin Mink, a teacher at Sidwell Friends School, and her 2-year-old son were eating lunch at Teaism in Washington, D.C. and noticed Pruitt dining with an associate.
"Hi," Mink said as she approached Pruitt. "I just want to encourage you to resign because of what you're doing to the environment in this country." Mink then introduced her son, whom she said: "loves animals, breathing clean air, and drinking clean water."
"Meanwhile, you're slashing strong fuel standards for cars and truck to the benefit of big corporations," Mink continued. "You've been paying 50 bucks a night to stay at a D.C. condo that's connected to an energy lobbying firm while approving their dirty sands pipeline."
Mink then told a visibly uncomfortable Pruitt that "we deserve to have somebody at the EPA who actually does protect our environment - somebody who believes in climate change and takes it seriously for the benefit of all of us, including our children."
Mink finished by encouraging Pruitt to "resign before your scandals push you out."
Below is the entire confrontation:
https://www.facebook.com/kristin.mink/videos/10108391238198206/
Mink posted her video to Facebook and further excoriated Pruitt.
He’s corrupt, he’s a liar, he’s a climate change denier, and as a public servant, he should not be able to go out in public without hearing from the citizens he’s hurting.
Mink also said that "cowardly Pruitt had no response."
He, his companion, and their 2 tax-paid security guards fled the restaurant before I got back to my seat.
Support for Mink poured in on Twitter as her "epic" video went viral.
Mink's followers tore into Pruitt as well, primarily for his lack of concern over pollution and climate change.
Pruitt is the latest official in Trump's administration to be confronted while eating at a restaurant.
In June, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked to leave Red Hen in Virginia after the wait staff told their boss they weren't comfortable serving her. They cited her willingness to lie for the administration and defend its racist immigration policies.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was confronted late last month over the administration's zero-tolerance policy, which separated migrant children from their parents. Nielsen was eating dinner at a D.C. Mexican restaurant when hecklers refused to let her dine in peace.
White House advisor Stephen Miller, one of the chief architects of the zero-tolerance policy, was also forced out of a Mexican restaurant after protesters called him a fascist.
But Pruitt has been slogging along with numerous scandals that would have ended anyone else's career long ago.
Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) tore into Pruitt in June and called out Trump for not doing enough to drain the swamp within his own cabinet.
Speaking to attendees of the Platts Energy Podium in Washington, Ernst said of Pruitt:
He is about as swampy as you get here in Washington, D.C. and if the President wants to drain the swamp, he needs to take a look at his own cabinet.
Ernst also criticized Pruitt’s handling of Trump’s promise to support ethanol production in her home state of Iowa.
“Mr. Pruitt is breaking our president’s promises to farmers,” Ernst said. She added that "it’s time for you to go, but that is up to the president.”
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