Former President Donald Trump somehow turned a question about the Ukraine crisis into an opportunity to bemoan windmills during an appearance on the “Full Send” podcast hosted by YouTubers.
“What do you see happening next, then? Cause it seems like the tensions are high. How does this all end? Is this going to be a long-term thing? How do you see it unfolding?” Nelk Boys founder Kyle Forgeard asked the former president during a sit-down discussion about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Well, and I said this a long time ago, if this happens, we are playing right into their hands. Green energy. The windmills don’t work. They’re too expensive. They kill all the birds. They ruin your landscapes,” Trump answered.
“And yet the environmentalists love the windmills. And I’ve been preaching this for years. The windmills ― and I had them way down ― but the windmills are the most expensive energy you can have. And they don’t work.”
Trump has a long-documented hatred of wind turbines, ever since a protracted and failed legal fight to stop Scottish officials from building what he called a “really ugly wind farm” in view of his Aberdeen golf resort.
He routinely spouts bizarre lies about windmills, including the widely-mocked claim that the noise they make causes cancer.
He continued to discuss windmills for some time before telling an anecdote about giving a “white flag” as a gift to former German Chancellor Angela Merkel over discussions about Nord Stream 2, a controversial natural gas pipeline between Russia and Germany.
Both the U.S. and U.K. are banning oil imports from Russia to punish the Kremlin for its war on Ukraine, causing a spike in already-high gas prices for Americans.
It seems Trump was citing a theory in right-wing circles that the crisis in Ukraine was a ploy to push alternative energy, as rising gas prices could force the adaption of cleaner energy such as wind turbines. Last month, for example, Fox News’ Tucker Carlson suggested that the Biden administration was provoking conflict with Russia to make a play against fossil fuels and push for renewable energy.
The “Full Send” podcast is produced by Nelk Boys, a group of popular Canadian and American YouTube creators known for their pranks and frat-style parties.
Watch the exchange from the 14:23 mark of the interview below.