--- title: 'Wheel of Fortune': Pat Sajak Says Global-Warming Tweet Was Parody description: TV-show host says he was merely being satirical when he called global-warming advocates "unpatriotic racists" canonical: https://time.com/108565/wheel-of-fortune-pat-sajak-climate-change-tweet/ author: David Stout article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-22T08:47:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:09:54.581Z og:title: 'Wheel of Fortune': Pat Sajak Says Global-Warming Tweet Was Parody og:description: TV-show host says he was merely being satirical when he called global-warming advocates "unpatriotic racists" og:url: https://time.com/108565/wheel-of-fortune-pat-sajak-climate-change-tweet/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt04745146bd9ac0d8/6986907213c79f4418192300/pat.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 38th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Awards - Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Wheel of Fortune': Pat Sajak Says Global-Warming Tweet Was Parody twitter:description: TV-show host says he was merely being satirical when he called global-warming advocates "unpatriotic racists" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt04745146bd9ac0d8/6986907213c79f4418192300/pat.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _Wheel of Fortune_ Host Pat Sajak Backtracks From Climate-Change Tweet by [David Stout](https://time.com/author/david-stout/) ## David Stout May 22, 2014 8:47 AM UTC  Game-show host Pat Sajak arrives at the 38th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Awards held at the Las Vegas Hilton on June 19, 2011 Game-show host Pat Sajak arrives at the 38th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Awards held at the Las Vegas Hilton on June 19, 2011David Becker—Getty Images by [David Stout](https://time.com/author/david-stout/) ## David Stout May 22, 2014 8:47 AM UTC _Wheel of Fortune_ host Pat Sajak claims he was just joking when he tweeted on Monday that only “unpatriotic racists” subscribe to climate change. Below is the tweet that caused the uproar online, after which the longtime television personality appeared to be trying to dodge the heat generated by his comment. On Wednesday, Sajak took to his Twitter account and stated he only meant to “parody the name-calling directed at climate skeptics.” However, _Vice_ pointed out that Sajak has [mocked climate change in the past](http://www.vice.com/read/pat-sajaks-crazy-right-wing-tweets-are-weirdly-admirable), and regardless of his apology netizens fired back with their own tweets and parodies of _Wheel of Fortune_ in response to Sajak. The show has not made an official comment. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/108565/wheel-of-fortune-pat-sajak-climate-change-tweet/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/108565/wheel-of-fortune-pat-sajak-climate-change-tweet/"},"headline":"Wheel of Fortune Host Pat Sajak Backtracks From Climate-Change Tweet","datePublished":"2014-05-22T08:47:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:09:54.581Z","description":"Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak went into damage-control mode on Wednesday after a tweet that said people who believe in climate change were \"unpatriotic racists\" caused uproar. 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