Scott Pruitt abruptly ended lunch at a Washington, D.C., eatery on Monday after a woman cradling her 2-year-old son confronted him, demanded his resignation and told him the country deserves an EPA administrator who “believes in climate change.”
Kristin Kink, a Washington-based elementary school teacher, posted a video on Facebook of the poignant encounter, which occurred at Teaism — an environmentally conscious restaurant near the White House that strives toward becoming a completely GMO-free establishment.
“This is my son, who loves animals, who loves food and air, who loves clean water,” Kink told Pruitt while holding her son, her video shows.
Kink went on to list a number of environmental regulations Pruitt has rolled back since becoming President Donald Trump’s EPA chief. She also referenced several of Pruitt’s ethical scandals, including his renting a Capitol Hill condo at an impossibly affordable rate from a well-connected fossil fuel lobbyist.
“We deserve to have someone at the EPA who actually does protect our environment, somebody who believes in climate change and takes it seriously for the benefit of all of us, including our children,” Kink told a dead quiet Pruitt. “So, I would urge you to resign before your scandals push you out.”
In a subsequent Facebook post, Kink wrote Pruitt and his unidentified lunch guest left the restaurant immediately after she delivered her stinging rebuke. Two of Pruitt’s security guards followed him out, she added.
“This man is directly and significantly harming my child’s — and every child’s — health and future with decisions to roll back environmental regulations for the benefit of big corporations,” Kink wrote. “He should not be able to go out in public without hearing from the citizens he’s hurting.”
A spokesman for Pruitt did not return a request for comment.
Several Trump administration officials have been confronted by protesters while out dining in recent weeks, including Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Homeland Security Secretary Kristjen Nielsen and senior adviser Stephen Miller.
A manager at Teasim, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said she was surprised by Pruitt’s lunch choice.
“This is a restaurant that is very outspoken about being protective of the environment,” the manager told the New York Daily News. “We’re flattered he likes our food. That could hopefully be a step in the right direction.”
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PHOTO (for help with images, contact 312-222-4194): Scott Pruitt
Bunch of hypercrites advocating greed and profit over the health and welfare of the masses, he deserved to be put in place.