GOP senator criticizes Green New Deal with poster of Reagan riding a dinosaur

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) on Tuesday brought posters depicting babies, a Star Wars creature, Aquaman and one of former President Reagan firing a machine gun while riding a dinosaur to argue against the Green New Deal as lawmakers debated the proposal in the Senate. 

“Critics might quibble with this depiction of a climactic battle of the Cold War because, while awesome, in real life, there was no climactic battle. There was no battle with, or without, velociraptors,” Lee said.

WATCH: Sen. Mike Lee uses Reagan, a machine gun, and a velociraptor to argue against @AOC‘s Green New Deal https://t.co/q30t3Johaq pic.twitter.com/hluEacyvNE

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) March 26, 2019

{mosads}Lee argued that the picture was just as relevant to the Cold War as he believes the proposed Green New Deal would be to solving climate change. 

“This image has as much to do with overcoming communism in the 20th century as the Green New Deal has to do with overcoming climate change in the 21st,” he said, calling the progressive proposal “ridiculous.”

The Green New Deal legislation, introduced by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) in the Senate and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) in the House would move the country toward using only renewable energy and create environmentally friendly jobs.

The velociraptor poster was one of several Lee brought in to illustrate his point.

Mike Lee, having a normal one pic.twitter.com/dY07FEAX3D

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 26, 2019

“This is the real solution to climate change: babies,” he said, as a poster with six babies on it was put up next to him.

“More people mean bigger markets for more innovation,” he said. “American babies, in particular, are likely going to be wealthier, better educated and more conservation-minded.”

Ocasio-Cortez shot back at Lee for his use of the posters, tweeting, “GOP Senators are using their Congressional allowances to print Aquaman posters for themselves to argue that a #GreenNewDeal saving our nation from climate change is a ‘waste of money.’ ” 

GOP Senators are using their Congressional allowances to print Aquaman posters for themselves to argue that a #GreenNewDeal saving our nation from climate change is a ‘waste of money’ https://t.co/iMNY0dJmCy

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 26, 2019

“If this guy can be Senator, you can do anything,” she added.  

Like many other women + working people, I occasionally suffer from impostor syndrome: those small moments, especially on hard days, where you wonder if the haters are right.

But then they do things like this to clear it right up.

If this guy can be Senator, you can do anything. https://t.co/vU4ChbTnnr

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 26, 2019