Former Gov. Sarah Palin speaks during a "Climate Hustle" panel discussion on April 14, 2016, in Washington, D.C. This week, she posted, and later deleted, a meme featuring a photo of Republican members of the Florida House of Representatives. | Getty Palin accidentally bashes Florida Republicans in Paris accord meme

Sarah Palin took a strong stand in support of President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from a global warming agreement, warning her Facebook readers with a meme that intoned, “Don’t be Fooled! The Paris Climate Accord is a SCAM.”

However, the picture the former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential nominee used — featuring well-dressed people celebrating — was pure fake news. It doesn’t really feature the “lobbyists” and others she bashed.


Instead, it depicts a group unlikely to support either the idea of man-made climate change or the Paris accord: highly conservative Republican members of the Florida House of Representatives on the chamber floor.

Palin deleted the post after Politico reported her error.

Florida Republicans and insiders couldn’t stop mocking and laughing at Palin’s error.

“I’m appalled. … As the owner of a publishing company, I find it appalling that she would use a low-res picture like this when a high-res picture is readily available,” joked state Rep. Scott Plakon, who’s in the picture standing with his hands together as he claps with joy.

Plakon said, “I was almost in tears with laughter” that Palin got it so wrong with her 9:37 a.m. Tuesday post — which was shared nearly 8,000 times and generated hundreds of comments before it was deleted. “I’m not sure what she’s saying. Are we cheering for Paris or against it? I think she’s saying we’re celebrating Paris.”

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To be clear, Plakon believes the idea of man-made climate change is a “false religion” and that the Paris accord is a “bad deal” for the United States. He supported Trump’s withdrawal from the voluntary agreement last week.

Plakon tracked down the photo to a Florida House Web page from former Republican Rep. Chris Dorworth that shows it was taken May 7, 2011, when the Florida House celebrated outmaneuvering the more moderate Senate.

“Paris climate accord? I thought you said ‘Honda Accord. Well, this is embarrassing,” joked Dorworth, who in the photo is standing with both fists raised in celebration. “The science of Honda Accords is undisputed. Global warming … not so much,” he said via text message.

Asked whether he believes in man-made climate change or the Paris accord, Dorworth replied bluntly: “No and no.”

When former Republican Rep. J.C. Planas saw the post, he had to comment on Palin’s web page: “That is a picture of REPUBLICAN Florida Legislators. Hahahahahahaha!!!! You are such an idiot!!!”

Planas was not in the picture but promptly razzed some of the former members who were. Unlike many of the former members in the photograph, Planas told Politico Florida that he does believe in man-made climate change but says he believes the United States should not strike deals that “completely sabotage our economy while Asian countries continue polluting.”

The meme Palin shared, Planas said, “goes to show the stupidity of some people who will sacrifice facts in order to promote an idea of a fake global conspiracy. My party needs to wise up and get rid of these idiots.”

POLITICO Screenshot

Palin’s meme closed with the line: “They pretend it's about fixing our environment... But it's REALLY about stealing Billions from the American people and giving it to foreign companies, countries and lobbyists!”

Former House Speaker Will Weatherford, who led his chamber’s redistricting committee in 2011 and is depicted in the photo, initially thought the picture commemorated an announcement that state House redistricting maps passed constitutional muster.

Asked whether he believes in man-made climate change and the Paris accord, Weatherford demurred: “I am a private citizen now. I don’t have to answer those binary questions anymore … when I run again, you can ask me then.”

Another Republican in the photograph, former Rep. Seth McKeel, said via text Wednesday that he “assumed it was some idiot who found a random pic. Are they really suggesting Will and I took some vote on the Paris Climate Accord?”

McKeel said he was notified of Palin’s post when someone sent him a picture of it with a comment that sums up the reaction of insiders: “‘High quality’ work by Palin’s comms team. It’s like they decided to grab a random picture of politicians off Google with no context to make their point. All of which are Republicans and all of which are members (or former members) of the Florida House and didn’t vote on the issue. But hey, it fits the narrative.”

McKeel declined to say whether he believes in climate change and the Paris accord.

“I’m not jumping into that. My take is it sounds like Sarah Palin needs some more help using Google Images.”

