California Governor Jerry Brown, talks during a discussion at the America's Pledge launch event at the U.S. "We Are Still In" pavilion at the COP 23 United Nations Climate Change Conference on November 11, 2017 in Bonn, Germany. Brown's appearance at the Boon conference is just one of the ways he has advocated for doing more to address climate change. | Lukas Schulze/Getty Images Brown: Trump doesn't fear 'wrath of God'

California Gov. Jerry Brown slammed President Donald Trump as a man who is not afraid of "the wrath of God."

"I don't think — President Trump has a fear of the Lord, the fear of the wrath of God, which leads one to more humility," Brown said in an interview airing Sunday on "60 Minutes" on CBS. "And this is such a reckless disregard for the truth and for the existential consequences that can be unleashed."


In the past, Trump has called climate change a hoax pushed by the Chinese.

Brown, a four-term governor of the state, said California is "not waiting for the deniers" as it confronts its most destructive wildfire season on record and prepares for what may become the new normal.

An outspoken advocate on the subject, Brown was among a handful of blue-state politicians who promised to stay the course of combating climate change even after Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris climate accord, saying it was not good for the country. Brown called that notion "preposterous."

"I'd say to Mr. Trump: Take a deeper look now is not the time to undo what every country in the world is committed to," Brown said.

On this and other issues, Brown argued that his state's reputation as being a Democratic bastion that is far out of touch with the rest of America is simply incorrect. Instead, he said,, California is America's future; it just arrived sooner than everyone else — with Brown specifically pointing to states like Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania where Trump won just enough votes to win the White House.

"There's more confidence here; there's less fear. People are looking to the future," Brown said. They're not scared, they're not going inward, they're not scapegoating, they're not blaming — Mexican immigrants. They’re not blaming the stranger Just the opposite. it’s is a place that's alive."

As for his future, Brown told "60 Minutes" that he is looking forward to retiring in 2019 and spending time on his ranch north of Sacramento.