After an “expert witness” at a Senate hearing on climate change was wrecked by a Republican senator, he revealed that a Democrat lawmaker apologized to him for being asked “silly, aggressive questions.”
The 23-year-old skier and Olympic hopeful Gus Schumacher told Daily Mail that Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse, who had invited him to the Budget Committee hearing, surprisingly remained “pretty cheerful” after the blistering exchange with Sen. John Kennedy that went viral.
“He apologized for Senator Kennedy and mentioned that it’s not the first time he’s done that aggressive line of questioning that’s not entirely related,” Schumacher told the outlet. “I don’t think anyone from my team was expecting that approach, he did a good job of making these questions really silly.”
Committee hearings should be reserved for serious people and serious issues. @august_schu Gus Schumacher is not an expert and not a serious person. He’s not even reasonably intelligent on the topic of the hearing (global warming and CO2).
Embarrassing @SenateDems called him. https://t.co/g9H1tqKXdY
— Jay Town (@JayTownAlabama) March 23, 2024
“The three-time junior gold medalist was representing the lobby group Protect Our Winters after previous testimony from economists, scientists, medical professionals, insurance and investment executives,” Daily Mail noted. “But it was all downhill for Schumacher as he tried to fend off Kennedy’s interrogation which began with a question about what carbon dioxide is.”
As a Nordic skier, Olympian Gus Schumacher has seen climate change alter winter sports and jeopardize the economies dependent on winter tourism.
LIVE: “The impacts of climate change on outdoor recreation … are undeniable and demand urgent action.” – @august_schu https://t.co/obuDYhvCUa pic.twitter.com/4HMpnaruWh
— Senate Budget Committee (@SenateBudget) March 20, 2024
“I was definitely a little bit flustered,” Schumacher told Daily Mail. “That spoke to my inability to answer questions on CO2, but I wasn’t too red in the face.”
He also weighed in on being asked about some of his old tweets, comments he did not remember making when grilled by Kennedy.
“At first I was nervous,” Schumacher explained after the hearing, “I was just trying to diffuse it and then I was just, look, this is silly it’s a distraction.”
“On reflection, I retweeted these things during the time around George Floyd’s killing and the unrest and that high emotion around that time, it was especially a show of support for the black community,” he added. “I don’t know, maybe the police shouldn’t be abolished.”
He also noted his surprise at not being questioned about the impact of skiing on the environment during the hearing.
“That’s what we thought a Republican senator could go for, it’s pretty obvious,” he admitted.
“I have to fly to Europe for training and it’s something I’ve struggled with, but a lot of people fly for their jobs and I’m only going to be able to compete at this level for a short time, and I think pushing for systemic change is the right thing to do,” he added.
The young skier told Daily Mail he did not regret his appearance before the lawmakers.
“A lot of the people I know and care about have been encouraging about how I handled it, not being super flustered and keeping cool was something they appreciated,” he said. “It’s a hard position to be in.”
