Rebekah Mercer is the daughter of Robert Mercer and current director of the Mercer Family Foundation, a private grant-making organization that often funds climate-denying organizations. Once aligned with the Koch brothers, Rebekah Mercer urged her father to shift his political focus to the Mercer Family Foundation.
Rebekah Mercer on Climate Change
In 2019, Mercer was removed from the American Museum of Natural History board of members after her term expired. Museum curators and scientists both cited her climate-denying foundation as reason to not let her back on the board.
In 2017, Robert and Rebekah Mercer attended a conference held by one of the organizations they fund, the Heartland Institute. Many people associated with Donald Trump were in attendance, who himself is a noted climate change denier. The conference held a series of events to support the claim that climate change is fake. Some events even included the notion that airborne toxins caused by global warming are good for the body.
During the 2016 elections, Rebekah Mercer served on President Trump’s Executive Committee transition team, and had also introduced Trump to Steve Bannon, who would go on to become Trump’s Chief Strategist. Rebekah Mercer herself had a connection to Bannon before this, as both were affiliated with Breitbart News. The Mercers are co-owners of Breitbart News and Steve Bannon previously served as executive chairman before stepping down.
Rebekah Mercer and Friends
Steve Bannon
Koch Brothers
Climate of Denial