Former vice presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin ripped into Bill Nye's scientific qualifications on Thursday.
She called Nye, best known for his children's show on PBS, "not a scientist" during a speaker panel and the premiere of a documentary that is skeptical of climate change.
"Bill Nye is as much a scientist as I am," Palin said, according to The Hill. "He's a kids' show actor; he's not a scientist."
Nye worked as an engineer for Boeing before taking on his role as "Science Guy," according to The Huffington Post. He studied mechanical engineering at Cornell University, earning a degree in 1977. Nye has also written a series of children's books about science and helped design sundials for NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Project.
Palin has denied human influence in climate change for years. She was the main speaker on a panel during the screening of "Climate Hustle," a movie that offers a counter view to Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth."
"We've been told by fearmongers that global warming is due to man's activities and this presents strong arguments against that in a very relatable way," Palin told Variety on Monday.
The panel also included opening remarks by Rep. Lamar Smith, chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.
The movie premiere and discussion coincided with President Obama's last White House Science Fair. It also was planned for a week before Earth Day on April 22 and the United Nations Paris Agreement on climate change. A special screening of the movie is also planned for one day in select cities on May 2.
In an interview of Nye and movie host Marc Morano, who was named "Climate Change Misinformer of the Year" by Media Matters in 2012, Nye offered Morano $20,000 if 2016 is not the hottest year on record.
Morano did not take the bet.
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