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Twitter has mixed feelings about Sen. Dianne Feinstein's meeting with kids over the Green New Deal

Senator Dianne Feinstein met with kids from the Sunrise Movement over the Green New Deal, and the internet has mixed feelings about how it went. (Photo: Getty Images/Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
Senator Dianne Feinstein met with kids from the Sunrise Movement over the Green New Deal, and the internet has mixed feelings about how it went. (Photo: Getty Images/Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

While most talk about the Green New Deal has centered on Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez — one of its 68 co-sponsors — on Friday, the attention shifted to another female powerhouse in Washington, this time, one who opposes the resolution: Senator Dianne Feinstein.

In a now-viral video that’s prompting mixed reactions on Twitter, Feinstein can be seen meeting with kids and young adults from the Sunrise Movement, a group dedicated to bringing young voices to the climate debate. As two young girls mention the resolution’s importance, Feinstein begins to argue that supporting the Green New Deal is counterproductive, as it lacks any Republican support.

In an initial clip of the meeting, posted by NowThisNews, Feinstein appears to be brushing off the kids opinions, which launched an uproar on Twitter Friday night. “This is pretty incredible,” tweeted ABC reporter Matt Bevan. “Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein is basically telling a bunch of kids to shut the h*** up because she won an election they couldn’t vote in and that means she knows everything.”

But when others started to circulate a video with the meeting in its entirety, many believed it showed a different scenario — a veteran lawmaker patiently explaining the way that politics work to a group of kids accosting her. Feinstein’s argument, which the kids seemed unwilling to accept, was that supporting legislation that has no bipartisan support is counterproductive.

“It doesn’t have a single Republican vote, and the Republicans control the Senate,” Feinstein says in the video. “The key to good legislation is to tailor something that you write so that it can pass and you can get a step ahead. 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. And the key is to get something passed that puts us on the right foot and we’re able to deal with the problem that’s happening, instead of something that won’t get passed.”

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When one of the kids pushes back, saying that government is meant to be “for the people and by the people,” Feinstein speaks up again. “You know what’s interesting about this group is that I’ve been doing this for 30 years, I know what I’m doing. You come in here and say it has to be my way or the highway, I don’t respond to that. I’ve gotten elected.”

The young group proceeds to say that they are the ones affected, despite not being old enough to vote, at which point Feinstein encourages them to run for office. At the end of the video, she agrees to offer one of the older kids an internship in the coming years, as she passes out copies of the Green Deal she plans on introducing. “I’m trying to do the best I can,” she says.

This longer video prompted praise from many of her supporters, who feel she handled it well. “Here’s the video threaded #DianneFeinstein,” tweeted @tommyxtopher. “To recap: she engaged on substance, told them she might vote ‘yes,’ and OFFERED ONE OF THEM AN INTERNSHIP. pt 1”

In a post on her Twitter, Feinstein herself responded to the controversy, saying she wanted the group to know they were “heard loud and clear.” “I have been and remain committed to doing everything I can to enact real, meaningful, climate change legislation,” she said.

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