During Tuesday’s edition of MSNBC Live With Velshi and Ruhle,, host Ali Velshi interviewed Kristin Mink, the teacher who had confronted EPA Secretary Scott Pruitt at a Washington, D.C. restaurant the day before. The confrontation of Pruitt comes at a time of increasingly uncivil discourse in American politics. In recent weeks, Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen has faced heckling from angry protesters at a Mexican restaurant near the White House as well as at her home in Virginia. The far left has justified the protests, citing the Trump Administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy.
For the record, Mink’s exchange with Pruitt was much more civil than the Democratic Socialists of America-sponsored scream-fest that Kirstjen Nielsen had to endure at the Mexican restaurant. Mink, a teacher at the prestigious Sidwell Friends school -- the place Chelsea Clinton and Sasha and Malia Obama attended -- told Pruitt he should resign while holding her two-year-old son, citing his conflicts of interest and the policies he has enacted during his tenure at the EPA.
During her confrontation with Pruitt and her interview on MSNBC, Mink wore a shirt that read “Your Founding Fathers Owned Slaves.” Velshi eventually brought that up: “I’m guessing from the shirt you’re wearing and the shirt you’re wearing now that says your forefathers owned slaves that you’re somebody who sort of lives in a...social justice space.” She responded in the affirmative, telling Velshi “I would say that’s accurate, yes.”
During the interview, Mink said that Pruitt is “literally sacrificing our children's future for short-term political gain.” Velshi eventually asked Mink “Are you at all concerned about the narrative that the Administration is putting forward that they’re being harassed and persecuted?” Mink responded by saying “You know, I can’t control that. We can’t control that. They’re of course going to try to spin it.”
Not surprisingly, Mink used her platform on MSNBC to spout off the left-wing talking points suggesting how Republicans hate the environment: “Clean air, clean water, the safety and well-being of coastal communities, protecting our environment for our children; this is important to us. And it’s more important than Scott Pruitt’s $1500 tactical pants that he’s spending taxpayer, spending taxpayer money on. It’s more important than $1600 that he just spent on a dozen fountain pens. It’s more important than his first class flights.”
Velshi asked Mink “what does success look like to you in a conversation like that?" Mink said that “honestly, it would have been great if he was like, you know what, I’m really corrupt, I’m going to resign right now and I hope that whoever takes my place does something better for the environment.” Mink admitted that I don’t think that that’s realistic.”
In her answer, Mink may have exposed the entire motivation behind the recent persecution and harassment directed at Trump Administration officials. They want to make life so unpleasant for these people that they will eventually decide to throw their hands up in the air and quit working for President Trump.
MSNBC Live With Velshi and Ruhle
07/03/18
11:33 AM
ALI VELSHI: EPA administrator Scott Pruitt, under fire for potential ethical issues surrounding his office, is the latest Trump Administration Official to face protests while in public. Here’s footage of the encounter provided by the woman who spoke with Pruitt.
KRISTIN MINK: Hi, I just want to urge you to resign because of what you’re doing to the environment in our country. This is my son. He loves animals. He loves clean air. He loves clean water. Meanwhile, you’re slashing strong fuel standards for cars and trucks to the benefits of big corporations. You’ve been paying 50 bucks a night to stay at a D.C. condo that’s connected to an energy lobbying firm while approving their dirty sands pipeline. We deserve to have somebody at the EPA who actually does protect our environment. Somebody who believes in climate change and takes it seriously, for the benefit of all of us, including our children, so I would urge you to resign before your scandals push you out.
VELSHI: All right, this public confrontation happened with the backdrop of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen being heckled while at a Mexican Restaurant as was White House Adviser Stephen Miller, in response to the administration’s zero tolerance policy at the border. White house Press Secretary Sarah Sanders was asked to leave a Virginia restaurant due to her involvement with the Administration. Sanders responded to all of this in a press briefing.
SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS: Healthy debate on ideas and political philosophy is important but the calls for harassment and push for any Trump supporter to avoid the public is unacceptable. America’s a great country. And our ability to find solutions despite those disagreements is what makes us unique.
VELSHI: Joining me now is the woman who confronted Scott Pruitt, Kristin Mink. Kristin, thank you for joining us. Kristin, you are a teacher.
MINK: Yes.
VELSHI: I was trying to glean…first of all, what happened after that confrontation? Did Scott Pruitt say anything to you? What happened, what did he do?
MINK: No. No. He said nothing. He had no defense. He had no explanation. He had got up and left with his two security guards by the time I got back to my seat.
VELSHI: Oh, so do you think he, I mean, was he at the end of his dinner or do you think he left because you confronted him?
MINK: I think he left because he I spoke to him. And it looked like he had finished his…the person who was eating with him has not finished and they were sitting and chatting and seemed pretty comfortable.
VELSHI: What made you do this?
MINK: Well that’s an easy one. I would say that, you know, it’s my right as a citizen. It’s my responsibility as a mother. You know, and I was there with my child and I think that that probably helped to spark something in me also to seize that moment. I mean he’s, here’s the man who is literally sacrificing our children’s future for short term personal gain. It’s disgusting and he’s corrupt while he’s doing it so…
VELSHI: I notice on the video you’re looking at something. Did you, did you write down some points you wanted to make and did that just sort of come to you in the moment?
MINK: Yeah. You know, I mean I’ll say that speaking to strangers in restaurants is not really my wheelhouse so I thought I might get a little bit nervous and I did want to be factual and have coherent talking points, so just on the back of my receipt I just scribbled down of couple of the many bullet points that there are to choose from that I could bring up to Scott there.
VELSHI: I’m guessing from the shirt you’re wearing and the shirt you’re wearing now that says your forefathers owned slaves that you’re somebody who sort of lives in a, in a social justice space.
MINK: I would say that’s accurate, yes.
VELSHI: You were civil in your tone to him. Are you at all concerned about the narrative that the Administration is putting forward that they’re being harassed and persecuted?
MINK: You know, I can’t control that. We can’t control that. They’re of course going to try to spin it. What it comes down to is that these are people who it is their job to work for us. They should, if they’re doing their jobs well, they should want to hear from the public and I was there to talk to Scott. It was a completely civil conversation. Turned out to be a bit of a one way conversation but that was his call. And you know, they should want to know what we’re passionate about, they should want to know what is important to us. And this is important. Clean air, clean water, the safety and well-being of coastal communities, protecting our environment for our children; this is important to us. And it’s more important than Scott Pruitt’s $1500 tactical pants that he’s spending taxpayer, spending taxpayer money on. It’s more important than $1600 that he just spent on a dozen fountain pens. It’s more important than his first class flights.
VELSHI: So which part bothers you more? You listed a number of things with your son in your hand that bother you about clean air and animals and water and the fact that he’s got ethical lapses that are being investigated. Do they bother you equally or is one more important than the other to you?
MINK: The environment is more important to me because this is what’s going to impact my children, what’s going to impact my students’ futures, what’s going to impact humanity down the line. I don’t, I honestly don’t know how he can sleep at night knowing what he is doing to our future and for our environment.
VELSHI: What does success look like to you in a conservation like that because you said it ended up being a one-way conversation? If it weren’t a one way conversation, just because you’re a mother, you’re a teacher and now you’re somebody that the world is looking at, in a time when we require dialogue, what does a successful conversation like that look like? Because there a lot of people saying do I get up and heckle, do I protest, or do I do what Kristin Mink did?
MINK: I mean, honestly, it would have been great if he was like, you know what, I’m really corrupt, I’m going to resign right now and I hope that whoever takes my place does something better for the environment. But I don’t think that that’s realistic. So what I do hope comes of it is I hope that other regular people like me feel empowered to speak up when they have the opportunity. It is our right as citizens, they are public servants and it’s our responsibility as well. So I hope that, you know, obviously I didn’t expect this to go viral or anything but I do hope that people feel empowered to speak up. That is our charge right now.
VELSHI: You weren’t expecting it to go viral but you did have somebody record it.
MINK: Yeah. Yeah. I did. And I felt a little safer having it recorded. And because, you know, I didn’t expect him to really engage me in a long conversation although that would be great. Scott, if you’re watching, love to have a longer conversation with you. But, you know, I figured if it wasn’t going to be a long conversation, then we would at least have it on tape.
VELSHI: All right, we’ll put the invitation out there now to the Secretary, if he wants to have a conversation with you, I’ll provide the venue for it. Kristin, thanks for joining me. Kristin Mink is a teacher at Sidwell Friends School.
