Fox News' Megyn Kelly misrepresented former Vice President Gore's congressional testimony to suggest that he lied about not profiting from his advocacy of renewable energy and climate change mitigation.
O'Reilly Factor still smearing Gore, misrepresenting his testimony on profiting from advocacy
Written by Matt Gertz
Published
On the June 4 segment of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly and Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly smeared former Vice President Al Gore by stating that he has profited from his advocacy of renewable energy and climate change mitigation, and Kelly misrepresented congressional testimony Gore gave to suggest that he had lied when he said otherwise.
O'Reilly teased the segment by stating, “Al Gore is becoming extremely wealthy with all this global warming stuff.” During the segment, O'Reilly said of Gore, “I believe that he is profiting by the green movement.” Kelly replied, “He appears to be. There's nothing wrong with that; he's a capitalist.” Kelly continued: “The problem is people are -- some people are coming down on him because when he testified before a House committee in April, he claimed that every penny he has made has gone to a nonprofit. Now, maybe he just misspoke. Or maybe he was speaking about this one particular firm that you and I were talking about tonight, but it's not clear.”
In fact, when specifically asked about profiting from his investments through the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins related to renewable energy and climate change mitigation legislation during April 24 congressional testimony, Gore said that “every penny that I have made, I have put right into a nonprofit, the Alliance for Climate Protection, to spread awareness of why we have to take on this challenge.” He subsequently further explained that "[e]very penny from the movie, from the book, from any investments in renewable energy" has “gone to” the non-profit.
From his April 24 exchange with Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN):
BLACKBURN: So you're a partner in Kleiner Perkins. OK. Now, they have invested about a billion dollars in 40 companies that are going to benefit from cap-and-trade legislation. So is the legislation that we are discussing here today, is that something that you are going to personally benefit from?
GORE: I believe that the transition to a green economy is good for our economy and good for all of us, and I have invested in it. But every penny that I have made, I have put right into a nonprofit, the Alliance for Climate Protection, to spread awareness of why we have to take on this challenge.
And Congresswoman, if you're -- if you believe that the reason I have been working on this issue for 30 years is because of greed, you don't know me.
BLACKBURN: Sir, I'm not making accusations, I'm asking questions that have been asked of me and individuals -- constituents that were seeking a point of clarity, so I am asking you for that point of -- point of clarity.
GORE: I understand exactly what you're doing, Congresswoman. Everybody here does.
BLACKBURN: And, well -- you know, are you willing to divest yourself of any profit? Does all of it go to a not-for-profit that is an educational not-for-profit --
GORE: Every penny that I have made --
BLACKBURN: Every penny --
GORE: -- has gone to it. Every penny from the movie, from the book, from any investments in renewable energy. I've been willing to put my money where my mouth is. Do you think there's something wrong with being active in business in this country?
BLACKBURN: I am simply asking for clarification --
GORE: I'm proud of it.
BLACKBURN: -- of the relationship.
GORE: I'm proud of it.
As Media Matters for America documented, on the May 1 edition of The O'Reilly Factor, guest host Laura Ingraham aired a heavily doctored version of that testimony to suggest that Gore has profited from his advocacy of renewable energy and climate change mitigation. On June 4, Fox News promoted The O'Reilly Factor's segment on “Gore's green money,” asking: “Is Al making tons of cash off global warming fears?”
From the June 4 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:
O'REILLY: And then, Megyn Kelly has been looking at Al Gore getting very, very wealthy. How is the former vice president doing it? We hope you stay tuned for those reports.
[...]
OREILLY: Thanks for staying with us. I'm Bill O'Reilly. In the “Kelly File” segment tonight, two interesting situations. Apparently Al Gore is becoming extremely wealthy with all this global warming stuff, but first ...
[...]
O'REILLY: Now, this is my favorite story of the day. Investor's Business Daily tells Miss Megyn and your humble correspondent -- that's me -- that Al Gore, when he left office, had $2 million --
KELLY: Right.
O'REILLY: -- and now he's worth $100 million.
KELLY: A hundred million beans, Bill.
O“REILLY: So baseball has been berry, berry good. So it's global warming -- that's what's got to be doing it for the guy.
KELLY: He's doing all right, let me tell you.
O'REILLY: A hundred million, man.
KELLY: Now listen, he's done everything -- you know the guy, obviously. He had An Inconvenient Truth. He's got a book. He's had -- he's an adviser to Google since 2001; that's a good company to be in on the ground floor with. He's on the board of Apple, another good company.
O'REILLY: But 2 million to 100 million?
KELLY: So that's my point. OK, so how does that justify $100 million? And by the way --
O'REILLY: He's in the hedge fund. That's where --
KELLY: -- and by the way, he says he gives -- he gave the profits from An Inconvenient Truth to --
O'REILLY: Polar bears.
KELLY: -- a non-profit. So I'm just saying -- so where is his personal money coming from if all of this is true? Well --
O'REILLY: Yes?
KELLY: -- he is the co-founder of a group called Generation Investment Management, which is a socially conscious investment firm that he founded. And so they take people's dough and they invest it in socially conscious causes, including causes relating to the environment. I don't know, Bill, but I would assume that's where the bulk of his money comes from, because you don't make $100 million on the board of Apple.
O'REILLY: You're socially conscious, are you not?
KELLY: I guess so.
O'REILLY: I am.
KELLY: [unintelligible] the next girl.
O'REILLY: Yeah, we're socially conscious. Have you gone from 2 million to -- well, you didn't have 2 million to start with, you're a young woman --
KELLY: I would like to get to 2 million.
O'REILLY: But that's a pretty big increase in eight years.
KELLY: Yeah.
O'REILLY: But -- and we're both socially conscious, and I know most of our audience, you're socially conscious out there. Have you increased your wealth like that?
KELLY: We're in the wrong business. We have to form an investment fund --
O'REILLY: Well, I heard that one of the things that Al Gore is doing is that he's manufacturing life jackets for polar bears so they -- that was a joke. And he's selling them, and you know, there's nobody else doing that. But I believe that he is profiting by the green movement. I think he's doing that. Yeah.
KELLY: He appears to be. There's nothing wrong with that; he's a capitalist. The problem is people are -- some people are coming down on him because when he testified before a House committee in April, he claimed that every penny he has made has gone to a nonprofit. Now, maybe he just misspoke. Or maybe he was speaking about this one particular firm that you and I were talking about tonight, but it's not clear.
O'REILLY: Maybe he'll produce his tax returns.
KELLY: But it's clear that -- I mean, it doesn't appear from $100 million that every penny he has made has gone to the nonprofit.
O'REILLY: But he said that, maybe we should ask him -- would you call him and ask him for his tax returns in 2008?
KELLY: Hello, Al, this is Megyn. He takes my calls.
O'REILLY: Listen, he likes you. He likes you.
KELLY: You think so?
O'REILLY: He doesn't like [Fox News host Bill] Hemmer. But he likes you, and maybe he'll give you have his tax returns for 2008 so we can see that he gave all that money to charity.
KELLY: You know, his daughter, Sarah, she's in journalism. Maybe I'll start there and work my way up.
O'REILLY: Yeah. We're gonna put Miss Megyn on the tax return for Al Gore. Thanks very much, Megyn. Nice to see you. Right back with ”Reality Check" tonight, starring some Fox News haters, and some new information about that terrible Air France crash in the Atlantic.