John Kerry says AOC's Green New Deal offered 'more leadership in one day ... than President Trump has in his lifetime'

Former Secretary of State John Kerry praised Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday, telling the House Oversight and Reform Committee the freshman congresswoman offered "more leadership in one day ... than President Trump has in his lifetime" on climate change with her Green New Deal.

What are the details?

According to The Hill, Kerry made the statement while testifying during a discussion on the intersection of climate change and national security.

Responding to a question from Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) about the affordability of Ocasio-Cortez's $94 trillion, 10-year plan, Kerry said, "I think you said that you are not sure of the science (behind climate change studies). But my focus is on how we are going to move forward and, you know, we all have differences on one piece of legislation or another."

The former secretary of state added, "But in proposing what she has proposed together with Sen. (Ed) Markey, Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez has in fact offered more leadership in one day or in one week than President Trump has in his lifetime on this subject," CNN reported.

Ocasio-Cortez, who is a member of the committee, later tweeted that she was "honored and humbled" by Kerry's praise.

Anything else?

During her questioning at the hearing, Ocasio-Cortez also suggested the U.S. would have "blood on its hands" if climate change wasn't addressed, Fox News reported. The New York Democrat asked former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, "Do you think that neglecting to address these threats is — could contribute to an American — the loss of American life?" to which Hagel answered in the affirmative.

The congresswoman asked Kerry, "Do you think that appointing a federal panel that questions 26 years of established climate science (could) be responsible for the loss of American life?" to which Kerry responded, "It could be."

"So I think what we have laid out here is a very clear moral problem and in terms of leadership, if we fail to act or even if we delay in acting, we will have blood on our hands?" the congresswoman asked the panelists. "I don't know if you're allowed to agree with that Secretary Kerry or Secretary Hagel, but would you agree with that assessment?"

"As long as we do nothing, congresswoman, we are complicit in our acts of omission and commission of what we're doing to choose for our energy, etc," Kerry responded. "And we're going to contribute to people dying, we're going to contribute to trillions of dollars of damage to property and we will change the face of life on this planet."