In his Paris Agreement withdrawal announcement last week, Donald Trump memorably stated he was elected to represent "Pittsburgh, not Paris."
The line resonated with Trump supporters and Paris opponents as a nod to the strain of our cultural discourse that highlights a growing rift between a beer-drinking, heartland-dwelling, "nationalist" cohort and a wine-tasting, cosmopolitan, "globalist" elite. The "Pittsburgh" contingent would of course support Trump's withdrawal from the scheme concocted by "Paris" types like John Kerry.
But perhaps someone on Trump's team should have done a bit more research before penning the line, because the city of Pittsburgh--to my personal surprise, I'll concede--voted in favor of Hillary Clinton, and by extension the Paris accord.
The line, which in the moment sounded meaningful, has turned into a minor rhetorical embarrassment creating an opportunity for Paris Agreement supporters to assert that even the people Trump thinks he's helping with the withdrawal are opposed to it. Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, for example, has taken to the pages of national newspapers, co-writing a New York Times op-ed with his Paris counterpart Anne Hidalgo to sing the deal's praises.
