Christina Amira Khalil, a Green Party member and U.S. Senate candidate for New Jersey, faced intense criticism on social media after attributing Friday's 4.8 magnitude earthquake that rocked New York and New Jersey to climate change. The aspiring politician's theory went viral within hours, garnering millions of views and prompting her to delete the post and switch her account to "protected" mode.
In her now-deleted post on X (formerly Twitter), Khalil wrote, "I experienced my first earthquake in NJ. We never get earthquakes. The climate crisis is real. The weirdest experience ever." The post quickly gained traction, with prominent social media users sharing it on their feeds to mock the candidate's claim.
GOP Congressman Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, was among those who criticized Khalil's post, writing, "Holy crap. I was just joking about people blaming climate change and then this genius pops up. A Senate candidate no less!" Conservative commentator Paul Szypula also weighed in, stating, "Senate candidate Christina Amira Khalil just said that 'climate crisis' caused today's earthquake in New Jersey. Climate doesn't cause earthquakes - they're caused by tectonic plates shifting. This woman is a moron."
The Babylon Bee Editor-In-Chief Kyle Mann jokingly commented on the situation, saying, "Gonna have a call with my Babylon Bee writers to figure out how we failed to come up with 'the earthquake was caused by climate change' before the libs did." Conservative author Carmine Sabia added, "The hilarious part is, she's doubling down on this climate, change and earthquake link with links to stories. Earthquakes have been happening for billions of years. But now it's the climate. I keep telling you these people are not serious. Pay no attention to them."
In addition to the widespread ridicule, Khalil's post received an official "Community Note" fact-check on X, stating, "NJ is located near a fault line, and has often experienced earthquakes." This note highlighted the scientific explanation for the earthquake, which is unrelated to climate change.
According to NASA, there is no link between climate change and earthquakes. "We know that most earthquakes occur far beneath Earth's surface, well beyond the influence of surface temperatures and conditions," said Alan Buis of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 2019. "We know the statistical distribution of earthquakes is approximately equal across all types of weather conditions. Myth busted."
After seeing the backlash, Khalil initially replied in a follow-up post, stating, "Pretty cool, I upset a lot of bots." However, she eventually deleted the original post and locked her account, preventing the public from viewing her activity.
Khalil wasn't the only politician to face criticism for baseless claims regarding the earthquake. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) blamed the tremors on America's declining morality, stating, "God is sending America strong signs to tell us to repent. Earthquakes and eclipses and many more things to come. I pray that our country listens." Greene's post was accompanied by an X "Community Note" pointing out that there are about 1,700 earthquakes in the US every year and that solar eclipses occur approximately every 18 months.
