Meet the environmental activists photobombing GOP candidates one by one
350 Action
The latest target of the environmental group 350 Action's photo campaign was Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) on Tuesday morning, when an advocate unveiled a shirt in front of him that declared, "I'M WITH CLIMATE DENIER."
Elaine Colligan, a 22-year-old fellow with 350 Action, subsequently told Business Insider that the stunt is a throwback to the famous novelty "I'm With Stupid" T-shirts.
"Every presidential candidate, especially Republicans, needs to be better on climate change," Colligan said in a phone interview. "Our job is to make climate denial look as ridiculous as it is."
In addition to Rubio, activists have snuck into photos with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R), and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R). In the case of Walker, 350 Action tricked the governor into posing with a giant fake check from David and Charles Koch, the billionaire industrialist conservative megadonors.
The Walker photobomb:
Pretty sure Scott Walker doesn't realize what the front of this sign says: pic.twitter.com/dmeftDAWBz
- Jenna Johnson (@wpjenna) August 3, 2015
"We had the idea to pose with a fake check with Scott Walker," Colligan recalled. "[We thought] that if we somehow got him to pose with us with a fake check, there'd be an image out there exposing how bought out he was by the Koch brothers."
Colligan said "the power of images to sway people's opinions" inspired the continued campaign, which she said featured four 350 Action members in New Hampshire ready to drop into presidential campaign events and publicize their message.
The Republican campaigns aren't always welcoming the 350 Action activists. Colligan said former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's (R) staff successfully shielded the candidate from photobomb attempts.
"We were thrown out of the Scott Walker event by the manager of that pizza shop. At later events, like Jeb Bush the other day, I was recognized by one of the staffers," she said. "Jeb Bush's campaign staff ... they usually physically block me out. They have a couple of security people that just stand right in front of us. They're aggressive. So we just try to get more folks involved."
"When I was with Kasich the other day, I had a hoodie kind of zipped up, and when I got right behind him I just unzipped it. You have to be a little sneaky," she said.
The Kasich photobomb:
.@ElaineColligan calling out @JohnKasich refusal to commit to cutting carbon. Still denial. #nhpolitics #FITN pic.twitter.com/UwrpKURE3R
- Tyler McFarland (@tmcfarland29) September 2, 2015
Another activist, Julie Laudon, did the same for Paul:
Julie Laudon, 21, senior at Univ. of New Hampshire, calls out Rand Paul for climate denial #nhpolitics pic.twitter.com/vOFEn0Tsav
- 350 Action (@350action) September 2, 2015
Colligan also said she and her colleagues will frequently engage the crowd at the Republican events about climate-change policy.
"People come up to us and say, 'What was that's about? What's climate denial?'" she said.
"Whether it's ramping up pressure on Hillary Clinton over Keystone XL, or getting Jeb Bush to go on the record against fossil fuel subsidies," Ganapathy said, "we've already made our mark."
- Average housing prices up 10% in Jan-Mar across the top eight cities
- Top visa-on-arrival picks for Indian explorers
- 451 million voters! First four phases of Lok Sabha elections witness 66.95% voter turnout so far
- Best hill stations near Delhi to escape May's heatwave
- India to surpass Japan, become world's fourth largest economy worth USD 4 trillion, in FY25: EAC-PM member
- Nothing Phone (2a) blue edition launched
- JNK India IPO allotment date
- JioCinema New Plans
- Realme Narzo 70 Launched
- Apple Let Loose event
- Elon Musk Apology
- RIL cash flows
- Charlie Munger
- Feedbank IPO allotment
- Tata IPO allotment
- Most generous retirement plans
- Broadcom lays off
- Cibil Score vs Cibil Report
- Birla and Bajaj in top Richest
- Nestle Sept 2023 report
- India Equity Market