Fox News' Steve Doocy agreed with GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush that Senator Bernie Sanders was way off base when he mentioned climate change as the greatest national security threat facing the U.S. during the first Democratic presidential debate. But Sanders' answer is backed up by multiple U.S. military organizations and experts who consider global warming a key threat to our nation's security.

On the October 14 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, co-host Brian Kilmeade aired clips showing how Sanders and Hillary Clinton responded when asked to name the greatest national security threat facing the country. Clinton cited the “continued threat from the spread of nuclear weapons,” while Sanders stated: “The scientific community is telling us that if we do not address the global crisis of climate change, transform our energy system away from fossil fuel to sustainable energy, the planet that we're going to be leaving our kids and our grandchildren may well not be habitable.”

Kilmeade then asked Bush, "[a]re they right?" Bush responded by declaring that climate change isn't in “the top ten” greatest threats to the U.S., and that “most people would want to hear” about “serious national security challenges” related to terrorism and foreign policy instead. Co-host Steve Doocy agreed, replying: “You're probably right.”

But the U.S. Department of Defense, the G7 Council on Foreign Relations, the Center for Naval Analyses Military Advisory Board, and many other military experts agree that climate change a top national security threat. In fact, the Department of Defense's 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review stated that climate change impacts, such as resource scarcity and severe weather, are “threat multipliers” that will create conditions that can “enable terrorist activity.” That's one reason why the Pentagon is already preparing for the impacts of climate change. 

From the October 14 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends:

JEB BUSH: I don't think climate change ranks in the top ten list when you consider that we have these asymmetric threats of Islamic terrorism, organized to destroy western civilization. You have nation states like Russia on the run, where we're pulling back, creating big problems for ourselves and our allies. You see the threats on Israel, the threats to Europe across the board. We have serious national security challenges in this world today because of the weakness of the Obama/Clinton foreign policy. And that would be the answer I think that most people would want to hear. 

DOOCY: You're probably right.

Related:

Bernie Sanders: Climate Change Is The Biggest National Security Threat

Previously: 

Fox Attacks Obama For Calling Climate Change An Immediate National Security Threat

Right-Wing Media Deny Link Between Climate Change And Rise Of ISIL

15 Military Leaders Who Say Climate Change Is A National Security Threat