Donald Trump – an overgrown Oompa Loompa who loves himself a terrible burger – was in Fresno on Friday, where he told Californians he can solve the water crisis in the state because: “there is no drought.
Via ABC News:
Speaking at a rally in Fresno, Calif., Trump accused state officials of denying water to Central Valley farmers so they can send it out to sea “to protect a certain kind of three-inch fish.”
“We’re going to solve your water problem. You have a water problem that is so insane. It is so ridiculous where they’re taking the water and shoving it out to sea,” Trump said to cheers at a rally that drew thousands.
Trump said he spent 30 minutes before the rally meeting with more than 50 farmers who complained to him about their struggles.
“They don’t understand — nobody understands it,” he said, adding that, “There is no drought.“
Sure. Umm, yeah. Ok. I guess literally every scientist has been wrong and there has been a yuuuuge amount of rain for the past few years. Clearly, the guy who fired Gary Busey gets it. And yes, it is the same guy who is very educated about wind energy in the state:
Palm Springs, CA has been destroyed–absolutely destroyed–by the world's ugliest wind farm at the Gateway on Interstate 10. Very very sad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2012
Here is video of Trump at the rally (pay special attention to the crowd going silent when he says “there is no drought”):
As for that fish he mentioned, well there are some corporate farmers in the central valley who are not fans:
Trump appeared to be referring to water that runs naturally from the Sacramento River to the San Francisco Bay and then to the ocean. Some farmers want more of that flow captured and diverted to them. The three-inch Delta smelt is a native California fish on the brink of extinction. The smelt has become an emblem in the state’s battles over environmental laws and water distribution.
Politically influential rural water districts and well-off corporate farmers in and around California’s Central Valley have been pushing back against longstanding federal laws protecting endangered fish and other species, saying federal efforts to make sure endangered native fish have enough water is short-changing farmers of the water they want and need for crops.
Water authorities say they can’t do it because of the water rights of those upstream of the farmers, and because of the minimum-water allowances needed by endangered species in the bay and by wildlife in general.
“If I win, believe me, we’re going to start opening up the water so that you can have your farmers survive,” Trump said at the rally.
Well, that is if those farmers (or any of us) can first survive a Trump Presidency.
