Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin once again garnered disparaging attention after a New York Times article put a spot light on a past campaign interview he gave.
In an attempt to prove climate change science is false, the Wisconsin Senator explained with confidence how Greenland got its name.
Johnson said:
"You know, there's a reason Greenland was called Greenland. It was actually green at one point in time."
"And it's been, you know, since, it's a whole lot whiter now so we've experienced climate change throughout geologic time."
The Times corrected Johnson on his misstep by explaining Greenland actually got its name from the explorer Erik the Red who hoped the name would attract new settlers.
Greenland has actually been covered in ice for the past 2.5 million years.
But Johnson continued:
"I could be wrong there, but that's always been my assumption that, at some point in time, those early explorers saw green."
"I have no idea."
This was not the first time he made extraordinary claims about science or his disbelief of climate change.
In his original interview, he also claimed sunspots were a major reason for global warming.
"It's far more likely that it's just sunspot activity or just something in the geologic eons of time."
"Excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere gets sucked down by trees and helps the trees grow."
Given his track record of climate change denial, twitter had no problem roasting him for spreading this glaringly obvious misinformation.
It really shouldn’t surprise anyone that Russian asset Ron Johnson said that Greenland got its name because it used… https://t.co/NzvcFgM38Y— Ricky Davila (@Ricky Davila) 1616443231.0
In reality, Erik Thorvaldsson, a Viking settler also known as Erik the Red, gave Greenland a misleading name in the… https://t.co/0oPDiAOdG9— John FitzGerald (@John FitzGerald) 1616438392.0
Ron Johnson used to be chairman of the Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation (under the Committe… https://t.co/ErFx6ctQxF— Pé (@Pé) 1616386057.0
Ron Johnson’s not a particularly bright bulb & even less informed. Had he been a Viking he’d have fallen into Eric… https://t.co/Cn9UcQ2GAn— What'sAllThisNow (@What'sAllThisNow) 1616433348.0
@tales_tomorrow @DanielBice Seriously, I remember in second grade being told fun little lines like “Greenland is ac… https://t.co/BOXHfMY3gH— saraharasaraharasaraharas (@saraharasaraharasaraharas) 1616427694.0
Ron Johnson thinks Greenland was turned white by global warming (huh?). I guess he figures anything that turns a co… https://t.co/JHes0ahm3j— Duty To Warn 🔉 (@Duty To Warn 🔉) 1616412990.0
@DanielBice Your space saver mini toaster once saved us from space alien invaders, which is how it got its name.… https://t.co/y5tGNTiPO8— Walter Shaub (@Walter Shaub) 1616411984.0
Ron Johnson 🤝 Donald Trump Big thoughts about Greenland— Greenland's Worst Senator (@Greenland's Worst Senator) 1616442031.0
@Taniel Here's the thing: Despite being corrected about the origins of the name of Greenland, Johnson's responses m… https://t.co/Qlw6fI22f3— Myrha Cheval @🏡 (@Myrha Cheval @🏡) 1616438560.0
@DanielBice "Nova Scotia was named after the original Scotia, or 'Old Scotia' was destroyed by the eruption of Mt V… https://t.co/tKUM8p1hof— Leadership Masters (@Leadership Masters) 1616412570.0
At least someone was gracious enough to invite Johnson in on a history lesson.