‘Remember that?’ Trump again asks Americans to recall something that never happened
Trump Again Asks Americans to Remember a TV Story That Never Happened
Goldlaner.com – Remember that Trump again asks Americans to recall a dramatic television blackout supposedly caused by wind energy. During a Thursday address at the Environmental Protection Agency headquarters in Washington, President Donald Trump invited the public to remember a story he claimed happened two years earlier. The catch? That blackout never actually occurred. The president, known for creating memorable anecdotes, was explicitly asking Americans to remember a tale he had invented. This particular fabrication centered on wind power—a topic Trump has consistently opposed and frequently misrepresented over the years.
The Fictional Tale of the Darkened Living Room
At the heart of Trump’s recurring myth is a simple claim: in regions where wind power dominates, residents cannot turn on their televisions when the wind fails to blow. This assertion ignores basic facts about how electrical grids operate. Wind energy constitutes only one component of a broader energy portfolio, not the sole source of electricity. Consequently, the power grid continues functioning and television sets remain operational even during calm weather conditions. Furthermore, modern battery storage systems capture excess energy generated by wind turbines, making it available during periods of low wind speeds.
Despite its factual inaccuracies, Trump has repeatedly delivered this no-television story with such comedic flair that it often escapes rigorous fact-checking scrutiny. At the EPA event, he presented the anecdote as though it were a genuine personal memory rather than an invention.
Trump’s Direct Quotes on the Matter
Trump opened his remarks by criticizing what he termed “the Green New Scam, where we were scammed.” He then elaborated on his supposed early awareness of the problem:
“The whole country was – I wasn’t scammed. I got it right from the beginning; I got it from the first minute when I heard this crap. You know? They were saying wind was so wonderful, so wonderful, except you couldn’t watch your television. They wanted to watch the debate, Donald Trump against Sleepy Joe Biden. Nobody could watch it because the wind wasn’t blowing. Remember that? ‘Darling, we’d like to watch the debate tonight.’ ‘I’m sorry, the wind isn’t blowing.'”
Unfortunately for Trump, tens of millions of Americans successfully viewed his June 2024 presidential debate with then-President Joe Biden. According to Nielsen estimates, more than 51 million people tuned in via television alone. Many of those viewers resided in Texas—the state that generated by far the greatest amount of wind-powered electricity in 2024 and continues to lead the nation in this category today. Texas is also a Republican-dominated state and remains the most populous state that Trump won during the election.
Context on Renewable Energy and California
While Biden championed renewable energy adoption throughout his presidency and established an ambitious target of achieving 100 percent “clean electricity” by 2035, Congress never enacted the Green New Deal. This nonbinding resolution, initially proposed by progressive Democrats, envisioned a decade-long initiative to satisfy all national power requirements through clean, renewable, and zero-emission energy sources. Federal statistics indicate that wind energy accounted for approximately 10 percent of total U.S. net electricity generation in 2024.
Trump’s Thursday speech contained additional inaccuracies beyond the wind-TV narrative. He asserted that California experiences “brownouts and blackouts every weekend,” a claim that has proven false for years. In response, a spokesperson for Governor Gavin Newsom clarified in a Friday email that “there hasn’t been a rolling blackout in nearly six years in California.” The spokesperson further noted that “California’s grid hasn’t had to call for any emergency conservation through the Flex Alert program since 2022, which is proof that the state’s investment in clean energy and battery storage is paying off.”
Additionally, Trump complained on two separate occasions that he receives “no credit” for the United States allegedly receiving “$19.2 trillion” in investment during his first twelve months back in office. This figure is entirely fabricated. The nation has not remotely approached that level of investment during the current presidential term, let alone within the first year alone. As our fact-checking team has consistently documented, even the White House cannot substantiate Trump’s inflated number.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did the wind energy blackout really happen? No, the blackout story Trump tells about wind energy preventing people from watching television never actually occurred. It is a fabricated anecdote that has been repeated in various forms over the years.
How much wind energy does Texas produce? Texas generates by far the greatest amount of wind-powered electricity in the United States and continues to lead the nation in this category as of 2024.
Has California experienced recent blackouts? According to Governor Gavin Newsom’s spokesperson, California has not experienced a rolling blackout in nearly six years and has not needed to call for emergency conservation through the Flex Alert program since 2022.
What percentage of U.S. electricity comes from wind? Federal statistics indicate that wind energy accounted for approximately 10 percent of total U.S. net electricity generation in 2024.
How many people watched the Trump-Biden debate? According to Nielsen estimates, more than 51 million people tuned in to watch the June 2024 presidential debate via television alone.
