BOISE, Idaho — Scoring political points with a base of voters by attacking the opponent or their policies is a regular tactic in this day and age of divisive politics. However, when Idaho Republican Governor Brad Little tried to do so with a quote tweet about President Joe Biden's climate change agenda, he failed to check if it was an actual policy.
In a Fox News graphic, the network alleges Biden's climate change plans would cut American's diet of red meat by 90%, limit people one burger per month and limit red meat to four pounds per year. Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott tweeted the graphic, saying, "Not gonna happen in Texas!"
Gov. Little quote tweeted it and said, "Idahoans also have beef with this agenda and for dinner!"
It only took about an hour after Little tweeted that for CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale to point out that the policy doesn't exist.
"The false claim about Biden trying to restrict people to four pounds of red meat per year appears to have originated with a deceptive Thursday article by the British tabloid The Daily Mail. The article baselessly connected Biden's climate proposals to an academic paper from 2020 that is not about Biden and says nothing about the government imposing dietary limits," Dale reported for CNN.
President Biden announced on Earth Day that the United States would cut fossil fuel emissions down by 50-52% by 2030. But The Daily Mail quoted an academic article published by the University of Michigan Center for Sustainable Systems prior to the 2020 election.
When The 208 reached out to Gov. Little's office to ask why he didn't bother to verify it before tweeting about it, the governor's office said it was meant as a reminder.
Gov. Little's retweet of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's false claim by Fox News "was meant to remind Idahoans that he does not support public policy efforts to cut Americans' meat consumption as a means of curbing climate change," his office said.
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