Radical Eco-Activists Hobnob With ‘Squad’ Dems At Holiday Fundraiser Hosted By Disney Heiress

Radical Eco-Activists Hobnob With ‘Squad’ Dems At Holiday Fundraiser Hosted By Disney Heiress

Nick Pope on December 19, 2023

Two left-wing Democratic lawmakers attended a holiday benefit for a hardline environmental activist group at the home of a Disney heiress on Monday.

Democratic Reps. Jamaal Bowman of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri, who are members of the so-called “Squad,” attended Climate Defiance’s “holiday benefit,” hosted at the home of Disney heiress Abigail Disney, according to an email sent by the group and obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. Climate Defiance has drawn headlines for its consistent and confrontational protests targeting corporate executives, Biden administration officials and several prominent Democratic congressional colleagues of Bush and Bowman.

“We did not come in to this world to mix and mingle and drink chardonet (sic) and pontificate endlessly like the jet-setting elite of Davos and Aspen,” Climate Defiance founder Michael Greenberg wrote in the email. “The roster of people who stood with us last night is a testament to what we have built. To the power of disruptive protest. The power of putting it all on the line… We play the inside and the outside game here. Sometimes we bring politicians up to the stage. Other times we chase them off.”

Climate Defiance activists have deliberately targeted Democratic Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Additionally, the group has made headlines for crashing a House office building, attempting to shut down meetings and events of the Federal Reserve and interrupting events featuring several high-ranking officials within the Biden administration, including Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Pictures included in the email appear to show both Bowman and Bush delivering remarks to other attendees. The email also encourages its recipients to make donations toward the “Fund to Make Climate Cowards (sic) Lives Fucking Hell.” The fund has raised $45,000 of Climate Defiance’s $60,000 goal, according to the email.

“We build some bridges and burn others to the fucking ground…. Support our work so we can continue building friendships with some politicians and making life profoundly, profoundly miserable for others,” the email says.

Bush and Bowman are not the first left-wing members of the Democratic caucus to have attended a Climate Defiance event. Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ro Khanna of California attended an October event for the group in Washington, D.C.’s ritzy Kalorama neighborhood.

Climate Defiance is one of numerous confrontational eco-activism groups that receives funding from Climate Emergency Fund (CEF), a nonprofit which receives tax-deductible donations from many wealthy American liberals, such as Hollywood writer Adam McKay, “Succession” star Jeremy Strong and failed 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s Onward Together organization, according to CEF’s 2022 annual report.

Several New York state officials, such as Democratic State Sens. Kristen Gonzalez and Jabari Brisport and Democratic Assemblymembers Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas and Emily Gallagher, attended the function as well, according to the email. New York City officials, including Comptroller Brad Lander, Public Advocate Jamaane Williams and Democratic City Councilmembers Sandy Nurse and Chi Osse were also in attendance.

“If we only play nice with politicians we are toothless and will be treated that way. If we only torch and torment those in power we are nothing more than a cantankerous band of grumps who will be written off as such,” Greenberg wrote in the email. “We have made some big name friends but we will never stop confronting climate criminals and climate cowards with the utter ferocity this crisis demands.”

Climate Defiance, Bush’s office and Bowman’s office did not respond immediately to the DCNF’s requests for comment.