By now it should be firmly established that it’s a very, very bad idea to mess with Bill Nye. But that didn’t stop CNN from trying! And failing!
First off, S.E. Cupp made the serious mistake of assuming Nye isn’t sincere, and it makes for a great GIF:
Nye was on Crossfire last night, and basically had to deal with S.E. Cupp whining that scientists were being mean. We’re not joking, here’s the full clip and you can catch her complaints at around the three minute mark:
Nye won simply by issuing the withering takedown to both Cupp and Nicolas Loris, an economist with the Heritage Foundation, that “we disagree on the facts.” Which immediately started Cupp whining about how the “science group” is “bullying” the “public.”
The truth is that Loris doesn’t come off very well in this clip. He essentially says he’s not trying to deny climate change, but then essentially tries to deny climate change by arguing that the tornadoes and hurricanes hitting the US aren’t that bad, which is an argument we’d like to see him make to, say, the people who lived in Mayflower, AR. Similarly, Cupp’s bizarre attempt to make the discussion about public relations kind of says it all; when you know you can’t win an argument, change the subject.
It may be the second greatest Crossfire moment, after Jon Stewart getting the show canceled. Can we have Stephen Colbert on next?