John Kerry Awards Himself Portrait After Squandering $32M as Climate Czar
- December 11, 2024
Luis Cornelio, Headline USA
The Biden administration gave itself a parting gift by awarding former climate czar John Kerry his official portrait celebrating his tenure as secretary of state under the Obama-Biden administration.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken unveiled the portrait during a lavish reception in the Department of State’s Ben Franklin Room on Monday—nearly seven years after Kerry left the federal agency.
Blinken showered Kerry with over-the-top praise that ran contrary to reality: “For all this remarkable diplomatic work, for all the feats that he pulled off as Secretary, what’s equally inspiring, maybe more inspiring, is an enduring willingness to throw himself into causes that he believed in, even when the odds were long, even when it seemed impossible.”
Kerry similarly applauded himself, claiming he viewed his mission as secretary of state as always trying to “calm things down.” He made sure to pat outgoing President Joe Biden on the back for hiring him once again as his special presidential envoy for climate.
But while Monday’s ceremony aimed to whitewash Kerry’s scandal-plagued career, his actual record is far from admirable.
Kerry faced a scathing ethics complaint from Protect the Public’s Trust (PPT) for allegedly violating federal scientific integrity rules.
As reported by Fox News, the complaint was prompted after Kerry dubiously claimed, “15 million people are dying every single year around this planet as a consequence of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere.”
PPT Director Michael Chamberlain rebuked Kerry’s inflated figures, saying this number appeared “to be a hysterical pronouncement of the most dangerous type.”
Chamberlain added, “It seems to have been made entirely without evidence – a phrase the American public frequently heard when evaluating statements from the previous administration – and designed to frighten the public to advance a political agenda.”