California Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein appears to be on her way out of the Senate after over 30 years of service in the upper chamber and has had several viral moments during her time in office.
One such moment came in February 2019 amid progressives’ push for the widely-panned Green New Deal when kids with the progressive climate nonprofit Sunrise Movement visited Feinstein to advocate for the legislation.
When asked to vote for the legislation by the assembled children, Feinstein said she and her Senate Democrat colleagues have their “own Green New Deal.”
A LOOK BACK AT SOME OF SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN’S MOST TROUBLESOME MOMENTS IN THE SENATE
The children parroted the wild progressive claim that “scientists have said that we have 12 years to turn” climate change “around,” to which Feinstein said it’s “not going to get turned around in 10 years.”
“Senator, if this doesn’t get turned around in 10 years, you’re looking at the faces of the people who are going to be living with these consequences,” an older protester said.
Another protester, a young girl, said to Feinstein that “the government is supposed to be for the people, and by the people, and all for the people.”
“You know what’s interesting about this group? I’ve been doing this for 30 years. I know what I’m doing,” Feinstein responded.
“You come in here and you say it has to be my way or the highway,” the California Democrat senator continued. “I don’t respond to that.”
“I’ve gotten elected. I just ran, I was elected by almost a million-vote plurality,” she added. “And I know what I’m doing.”
Feinstein said that “maybe people should listen a little bit” before another older protester interrupted her.
“I hear what you’re saying, but we’re the people who voted [for] you,” the protester said, who told Feinstein she was “16” and “can’t vote” when asked by the senator.
“You’re supposed to listen to us, that’s your job,” the student also said.
“Well, you didn’t vote for me,” Feinstein fired back.
NRCC GIVES EMBATTLED KATIE PORTER A VALENTINE VOWING TO ‘FLIP THIS SEAT’ IN 2024
Feinstein’s office announced on Tuesday that she would not be seeking re-election in 2024 and would be finishing off the rest of her term, which appeared to confuse Feinstein later in the day when reporters asked her about her announcement and she said, “Oh, no, I’m not announcing anything. I will one day.” A staffer had to remind her about her announcement.
“I am announcing today I will not run for reelection in 2024 but intend to accomplish as much for California as I can through the end of next year when my term ends,” Feinstein’s office said in a statement.
Feinstein – who is the oldest serving senator at age 89 and the longest serving female senator – has had many ups and downs throughout her tenure in the Senate.
The senator has been a defender of China for decades, becoming the first U.S. mayor to visit the country while running San Francisco. Feinstein supported granting Most Favored Nation (MFN) trade status to China in 2000 – a designation that relaxed restrictions and encouraged a surge in U.S.-China economic cooperation.
In 1994, when the U.S. Senate was considering rescinding this trade status with China over human rights violations, Feinstein argued against it, saying it would “inflame Beijing’s insecurities.”
In February 2009, Feinstein, during her tenure as head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, revealed the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was operating missile-firing drones used on suspected insurgents throughout Pakistan from a secret air base within the country, causing deep embarrassment in Washington and Islamabad.
In December 2021, Feinstein, while speaking to Fox News, indicated that she does not believe a fetus could be considered a “human being” at 15 weeks old. The senator’s comments came amid a nationwide discussion around the controversial Mississippi law to ban abortions at 15 weeks.
Feinstein faced pushback from her Republican colleagues in 2018 for waiting nearly two months to inform the Judiciary Committee about the decades-old sexual assault allegations that caused uproar ahead of then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the high court.
Feinstein has faced pressure over the last couple years to retire and her mental fitness has been questioned in multiple reports. Last year, Senators and other officials expressed concerns that Feinstein was no longer mentally competent enough to do her job as a lawmaker, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Many of Feinstein’s critics, however, have declined to speak on the record and asked to have their names withheld.
“I have worked with her for a long time and long enough to know what she was like just a few years ago: always in command, always in charge, on top of the details, basically couldn’t resist a conversation where she was driving some bill or some idea. All of that is gone,” an anonymous lawmaker told the Chronicle.
FOX News Digital’s Kyle Morris and Timothy Nerozzi contributed reporting.