When Dianne Feinstein rebuffed young climate activists

The late Sen. Dianne Feinstein was known in Congress for always doing what she thought was right — whether that meant going against members of her own party or even telling off young children.

Feinstein (D-Calif.), who died Thursday at the age of 90, once came under fire for her response to a group of teenagers who were petitioning her to support the Green New Deal back in 2019.

In a viral video that re-circulated on social media after Feinstein’s death was announced, the then-octogenarian could be seen meeting with more than a dozen teenagers and pre-teens from the Sunrise Movement — a group that organizes young people to fight climate change — who wrote her a letter asking her to support the legislation.

When Feinstein tried to explain why she could not support the bill as it was written, a young pig-tailed girl started pleading, saying: “The government is supposed to be for the people, by the people and all for the people.”

“I’ve been doing this for 30 years,” the senator shot back. “I know what I’m doing.

“You come in here and you say it has to be my way or the highway, I don’t respond to that,” Feinstein went on.

“I’ve gotten elected, I just ran [in 2018]. I was elected by almost a million-vote plurality and I know what I’m doing,” she said. “So you know, maybe people should listen a bit.”

An older teenager then tried to confront Feinstein over her remarks.

“I hear what you’re saying, but we’re the people who voted [for] you, you’re supposed to listen to us,” she said.

In response, Feinstein asked the girl how old she was — to which youngster answered that she is 16.

“Well, you didn’t vote for me,” Feinstein shot back, as the young pig-tailed girl once again cried out, “It doesn’t matter, we’re going to be the ones impacted.”

Later, another young woman chimed in, claiming: “The cost of not taking this action is far higher than what the cost of the Green New Deal will be, and there is enormous popularity for this bill around the whole country.

“And we’re asking you to be brave,” she said, arguing that “any plan that doesn’t take bold, transformative action is not going to be what we need.”

“Well, you know better than I do,” Feinstein replied. “So I think one day, you should run for the Senate and then do it your own way.”

“Great, I will,” the teen responded.

The Sunrise Movement claimed in a tweet Feinstein reacted to their letter “with smugness and disrespect.”

“Her reaction is why young people desperately want new leadership in Congress,” it said.

But a longer version of the video, which was posted to Facebook, showed Feinstein explaining why she would not support the bill.

“There’s no way to pay for it,” she said, adding: “It doesn’t have a single Republican vote, and the Republicans control the US Senate.”

 “I’ve been in the Senate for over a quarter of a century, and I know what can pass and I know what can’t pass.

“The resolution will not pass the Senate, and you can take that back to whoever sent you here,” Feinstein concluded.

Near the end of the viral video, as Feinstein tried to conclude the meeting, a woman told her the children “have decades of life that they hope to still have, and your leadership is so beautifully, beautifully possible.”

“That doesn’t work with me, thank you,” the senator replied.

After the video went viral on social media and triggered backlash, Feinstein was forced to release a statement saying she “always welcomes the opportunity to hear from Californians who feel passionately about this issue, and it remains a top priority of mine.

“Unfortunately, it was a brief meeting, but I want the children to know they were heard loud and clear,” she said.

“I have been doing everything I can to enact real, meaningful climate change legislation.”