‘You sold our futures…’: US climate activists heckle Senator Joe Manchin at Harvard event; here's why
US climate activists humiliated Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) over construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline during an event at Harvard University on Friday.
US climate activists humiliated Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) over construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline during an event at Harvard University on Friday. A video has surfaced on social media, showing the intense moment when Manchin aide pushed away a protestor following a heated argument.
In a video shared by a youth-led group Climate Defiance on X (formerly Twitter), Communications Director Jonathan Kott can be seen holding back West Virginia lawmaker and then grabbing and tossing the troublemaker out the door.
As the tense interaction unfolded, the activist blasted the senator by calling him “sick f**k.” “You sold our futures and you got rich doing it," the unnamed male protestor stated.
In response, Manchin stood up from his seat in a bid to get into the protestor’s face.
Taking to X, the Climate Defiance shared the incident's video clip, which has garnered over two million views. “BREAKING: we just called Joe Manchin a sick fuck. We humiliated him in front of a herd of Harvard elites. He squared up. We held firm. Barbaric murderer, hideous fiend, he torches humanity and laughs,” the group wrote.
All you need to know about Mountain Valley Pipeline and the protest
The members of the Climate Defiance interrupted the event to raise their voice against Manchin's role in the ongoing building of the natural gas pipeline that was first proposed in 2014. It is set to run across the 76-year-old Democrat's home state and into southern Virginia, passing through the Appalachian Trail.
Several environmental organisations, including the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and the Natural Resources Defense Council, have spoken out against it, citing the threats of gas leaks, poor water quality, soil erosion, landslides, among other concerns.
Also Read: ‘Go home to mommy,’ Donald Trump blasts climate protester interrupting him at Iowa rally
Last year, the pipeline bypassed regulatory hurdles and litigations aiming to halt construction after being included in a debt ceiling agreement permitted by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden. In a statement, Manchin said: "For more than nine months, I have worked tirelessly to build consensus and garner the support necessary to complete MVP," he stated. He went on to say that it will "create more than 2,500 jobs, generate $50 million in tax revenue and more than $175 million in royalties for West Virginia landowners."
