Palermo began to receive hate mail when conservative websites ran stories about the column. He subsequently agreed to appear on "Tucker Carlson Tonight" on Fox News because he wanted to clear up a misconception that he wanted Trump censored, he said. The next five minutes weren't exactly what he had expected. "I am assuming you were speaking not literally but figuratively about Trump being banned from Twitter," Carlson said. "I don't imagine as a professor you are in favour of banning people from expressing themselves. But what point were you trying to make?" Palermo said he was trying to make a rhetorical point. "It was uncontroversial of me to accept the science of climate change that 98 per cent of the world scientists believe is true. No amount of ideology will change the physics of that," he said.

Carlson repeatedly asked how Palermo came up with the 98 per cent figure. "Are you a scientist or have you polled scientists?" he said. "How did you get that figure?" Palermo fumbled for answers, mentioning the Pentagon, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and California's governor and state Legislature. Palermo said he wasn't prepared to defend climate change when he came on the show. "I'm the one who walked into it because I brought up 98 per cent," he said Friday. "The reason I couldn't quote it was because I've read it in like 50 places." He said he received 50 negative emails and blocked 200 people from his Twitter account after they sent various messages, including one suggesting that he commit suicide and another saying he is lower than vermin, he said.

Palermo forwarded some of the email to Laura Dunham, an associate producer for "Tucker Carlson Tonight." "On a personal note: I'm so, so sorry about the hate mail," she responded. "Those emails you forwarded me were filled with very cruel and ugly things. I hate to see that." A Fox News staff member said no one was available to comment on the Palermo appearance. The segment gave conservative bloggers another run at Palermo. "The Daily Caller and The Blaze said I got owned by Tucker Carlson," Palermo said.

He said former students have praised him for his performance, and climate blogger Peter Sinclair and science writer Shawn Otto came to his defence. "In my bubble, it has been very positive," he said. Loading Despite everything, Palermo said he would go on the show again. "What I'm thinking is that we are entering a right-wing dominance in Washington and people like me - even if we take some abuse - we need to jump into that bubble any way we can." TNS