'A WHOLE LOT WHITER NOW'
‘America’s Dumbest Senator’: Ron Johnson Dragged for ‘Incredibly Ignorant’ Claim About How Greenland Got Its Name

Embattled U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI), already under fire for his support of the insurrection and the “big lie,” and for saying he trusted the MAGA domestic terrorists over Black Lives Matter protestors, and for his record of spreading Russian disinformation, is now the target of mockery over his false claim about how Greenland got its name.
There seems to be some GOP fascination with the autonomous territory that is a part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Although it spans more than 830,000 square miles, Greenland has a population of just 56,000 people. And President Donald Trump infamously wanted to purchase the island – perhaps because it’s the largest in the world – or trade it for Puerto Rico.
A New York Times profile lays waste to the Republican Senator from Wisconsin, accusing him of “assaulting the truth,” and calling him “the Republican Party’s foremost amplifier of conspiracy theories and disinformation.”
“Pushing false theories on the virus, the vaccine and the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, Mr. Johnson, the Republican senator from Wisconsin, has absorbed his party’s transformation under Donald Trump.”
The Times say Johnson has a “predilection for anti-intellectualism,” and “is an all-access purveyor of misinformation on serious issues such as the pandemic and the legitimacy of American democracy, as well as invoking the etymology of Greenland as a way to downplay the effects of climate change.”
John “offered a false history of Greenland to dismiss the effects of global warming.”
“You know, there’s a reason Greenland was called Greenland,” Mr. Johnson told WKOW-TV in Madison back then. “It was actually green at one point in time. And it’s been, you know, since, it’s a whole lot whiter now so we’ve experienced climate change throughout geologic time.”
In the interview on Thursday, Mr. Johnson was still misinformed about the etymology of Greenland, which got its name from the explorer Erik the Red’s attempt to lure settlers to the ice-covered island.
“I could be wrong there, but that’s always been my assumption that, at some point in time, those early explorers saw green,” Mr. Johnson said. “I have no idea.”
It took little time for the mockery to begin.
Ron Johnson once insisted there was a “secret society” in the FBI. He said the January 6th terrorists were Antifas—before he said they were peaceful Trump supporters who wouldn’t hurt a fly. He spread Russian disinformation about Biden’s son. He has thoughts on Greenland too. https://t.co/YRzEAvnjLe
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) March 22, 2021
Ron Johnson loves to lie, but let’s give him some credit: Sometimes, he’s just incredibly ignorant.
For example: No, @SenRonJohnson, Greenland didn’t get its name because it used to be green. Climate change didn’t turn it into ice. https://t.co/98cq9FJznU pic.twitter.com/UzbGQrgPT4
— Thomas Nelson (@NelsonforWI) March 22, 2021
Ron Johnson wrongly thinks it’s called Greenland because it was once Green. I’ve known how Greenland got its name since I was 11. I’m also not a Russian Asset. https://t.co/1EpVPNHZRl
— Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) March 22, 2021
@RonJohnsonWI @SenRonJohnson you just keep embarrassing WI. Is this an example of covid brain? The conspiracy thoughts just keep coming. #greenland https://t.co/NHKVSz0TtF
— Linwi (@LFINWI) March 22, 2021
America’s dumbest Senator @RonJohnsonWI thinks Greenland was once green but now it’s white so therefor climate change is no problem? https://t.co/ctFo3aYoLY
— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) March 22, 2021
The fact that Greenland’s “a whole lot whiter now” may explain its appeal to Johnson. https://t.co/lMCHKEFyDv
— Robert A George (@RobGeorge) March 22, 2021
Erik the Red has been dead for over a thousand years and he’s still roping in dumbasses like Ron Johnson with the Greenland bit https://t.co/Pv3i53vJYx
— Paul Blest (@pblest) March 22, 2021
Ron Johnson used to be chairman of the Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation (under the Committee on Foreign Relations) and doesn’t know a basic fact about Greenland. https://t.co/6hA4BNuyPO
— Pé (@4everNeverTrump) March 22, 2021
We learned this in fourth grade. Iceland is green, Greenland has Ice. https://t.co/TBqXileUKv
— DJ Judd (@DJJudd) March 22, 2021
Only in America do we elect a simple fuck like Ron Johnson who believes Greenland was once actually all green, and somehow turned white. He’s like the Senate idiot everyone laughs at.
This is so embarrassing..🙄
— Kyla In The Burgh 🏳️🌈🏴☠️ (@KylaInTheBurgh) March 22, 2021
Ron Johnson thinks Greenland was turned white by global warming (huh?). I guess he figures anything that turns a country white can’t be that bad https://t.co/kz8gtUMYlK
— Duty To Warn 🔉 (@duty2warn) March 22, 2021
This article has been updated to correctly state the square footage of Greenland.

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