Climate activists throw potatoes at $110 million Monet painting
'Outnumbered' panelists criticize the 'ridiculous' demonstrations.
"Outnumbered" panelists sounded off Monday on the recent demonstrations by climate activists who have vandalized iconic artwork. The latest target: a $110 million Monet painting.
The two activists threw mashed potatoes on Claude Monet’s "Les Meules" Sunday at a museum in Germany. The painting, however, was enclosed in glass and remained undamaged. The pair then glued themselves to the wall.
Co-host Kayleigh McEnany called the stunt a "desperate cry for attention."
This protest comes after activists connected to the Just Stop Oil group smashed cake on the face of a King Charles III waxwork at the Madam Tussauds museum and threw tomato soup on Vincent van Gogh’s "Sunflowers" painting at London’s National Gallery.
McEnany questioned why the protesters took the route of attacking artwork to get their point across.
"Who watches the protests and thinks, ‘I want to be with these people’?" she asked the panel.
Fox News contributor Dr. Marc Siegel called the stunt hypocritical.
"The painting is about the harvest," he said Monday. "Thank God this was protected by glass. But the hypocrisy of this is it's actually a pro-environment painting."
Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of two protesters who have thrown tinned soup at Vincent Van Gogh's famous 1888 work Sunflowers at the National Gallery in London, Friday Oct. 14, 2022. (Just Stop Oil via AP)
Ainsley Earhardt, co-host of "Fox & Friends," called for serious punishments for activists destroying valuable art.
She noted that the pieces being targeted are part of history and are taught to young children.
"There need to be consequences," she said. "It’s a work of art literally worth more than $100 million. You should go to prison if you destroy someone’s art or anything that’s of value."
Earhardt called the activists criminals and noted they may not receive harsh consequences, as recent criminal justice policies in America allow for their almost immediate release.
"In California, if you steal under $1,000, you don't go to prison," she said.
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Earhardt also highlighted an activist tactic of putting spikes on trees with the goal of jamming chainsaws.
"I really think it's a form of terrorism to advance a political agenda," she said.
"There are consequences, and we need to stop letting these criminals get away with this."
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