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Quitting Paris climate deal for us? No thanks, says Pittsburgh mayor in viral tweets
In announcing his pullout from a deal that failed to “put America first,” the US president on Thursday cited the northeastern city saying: “I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris.”
Donald Trump said he was championing the people of Pittsburgh by leaving the Paris climate accord. But the city’s Mayor Bill Peduto did not take kindly to the shout-out.
In announcing his pullout from a deal that failed to “put America first,” the US president on Thursday cited the northeastern city saying: “I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris.”
But Peduto took issue with Trump’s invocation of his city.
He posted in one of a feisty series of tweets that swiftly went viral:
The president’s decision to quit the 196-party accord sparked indignation at home and abroad, with former president Barack Obama saying the United States was “joining a handful of nations that reject the future.”
Peduto echoed that criticism, tweeting:
Trump went on to declare: “It is time to put Youngstown, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania -- along with many other great locations in our country -- before Paris, France.”
But Pittsburgh is hardly a depressed post-industrial hub in need of a savior -- it has experienced a striking rebirth in recent years.
Peduto stressed that Pittsburgh was far removed from the Rust Belt cities that helped propel the Republican businessman to the White House.
“Fact: Hillary Clinton received 80% of the vote in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh stands with the world & will follow Paris Agreement,” he tweeted.
