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President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 30, 2020.
- At a Thursday rally in Iowa, President Donald Trump railed against the Green New Deal championed by progressive Democrats like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders.
- "Don't say it. They want to kill our cows. That means you're next," the president told supporters in Des Moines.
- The Green New Deal proposes working with farmers to help tackle greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, but makes no mention of confiscating livestock or murdering humans.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
President Donald Trump launched a bizarre attack on the Green New Deal championed by progressive Democrats like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders, telling a rally in Iowa that "they want to kill our cows" and, eventually, American farmers.
"During this campaign season, the good people of Iowa have had a front-row seat to the lunacy and the madness of the totally sick left," Trump told the crowd in Des Moines on Thursday night.
"The Green New Deal, which would crush our farms, destroy our wonderful cows. They want to kill our cows. You know why, right? You know why?"
"Don't say it. They want to kill our cows. That means you're next," he said, as the crowd laughed.
The Green New Deal has become a favored punchbag for Trump on the campaign trail, as he seeks to whip up hostility to measures to curb fossil fuel emissions championed by Democrats.
Studies by the US Environmental Protection Agency have linked about 9% of US greenhouse emissions to agriculture, including methane from cows belching.
The deal mentions working collaboratively with farmers and livestock owners to reduce greenhouse emissions, but makes no mention of cows - let alone murdering humans.
MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at a House Financial Services Committee hearing in October 2019.
Iowa is one of the key battleground states of the 2020 campaign, and Trump is fighting to retain the support of farmers who have been hit hard by his year-long trade war with China.
In his speech, Trump went on to boast of his own policies, and railed against the impeachment trial being conducted, as he spoke, in Washington.
"We're having probably the best years that we've ever had in our country, and I just got impeached!" he said.
"Can you believe these people? I got impeached. They impeached Trump."
Referring to House Democrats, he added: "They want to nullify your ballots, poison our democracy, and overthrow the entire system of government. That's not happening - I can tell you that."
Trump and other Republicans have repeatedly accused Democrats of concocting what they say are bogus impeachment allegations as part of a plot to end Trump's presidency before the 2020 election.
- Read more:
- The Green New Deal is the perfect retort to trickle-down fear-mongers: Finally, progressives have the game-changing argument that can swing a majority of Americans toward a better future
- Trump is trying to boost Bernie Sanders' profile to help him clinch the Democratic 2020 nomination, but it could backfire
- The Green New Deal will be tremendously expensive. Every penny should go on the government's tab.
TRUMP: "They want to kill our cows. That means you're next." pic.twitter.com/wcQ9J7RR2Z
- Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 31, 2020