Gov. Inslee releases tax returns, talks climate change on ‘Fox & Friends’

Washington State Governor Jay Inslee may not have the polling numbers he wanted early on, but he’s still hitting the campaign trail in a variety of places, including “Fox & Friends.”

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Inslee went on the Fox News morning program on Friday, to discuss the release of the last 12 years of his tax returns, and debate climate change with host Steve Doocy.

Gov. Inslee’s office cited the move as “part of his commitment to transparency on the campaign trail.” The returns can be found his campaign website here.

A debate about climate change — the issue that the governor is largely basing his campaign on — ensued.

“You look at the Green New Deal, and you’re talking about remaking all of society — we just don’t have the money for that,” argued Doocy.

“I’ll tell you what’s expensive, is Nebraska being flooded with $1.5 billion of loss. It’s Paradise, California, that I went and saw a town of 25,000 burn right down to the foundation. That’s what’s expensive,” Inslee countered.

“This is a can-do nation,” he added.

Doocy remained skeptical about whether flooding in Nebraska was a direct of climate change, with Inslee arguing that “we need a scientifically literate president.”

Early polling problems

Even while campaigning across the country, Inslee’s early polling numbers haven’t been positive. A recent CNN poll had roughly 73 percent of respondents saying they had never heard of the Washington governor, while polling below 1 percent of support in a new Quinnipiac poll.

If that trend continues, Inslee may be hard-pressed to score an invite to the Democratic debate stage, that requires donations from at least 65,000 donors in 20 states, and polling at 1 percent or more in at least three separate polls.

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