Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have been busy of late, contributing to the score for the environmental documentary Before the Flood. And given that global warming is such a hot button topic, a recent interview that Trent Reznor gave to The Daily Beast eventually turned political, with discussion of presidential candidate Donald Trump and his views on global warming.

In the past Trump has stated that global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order for them to make the U.S. manufacturing non-competitive. "How do you even engage in a dialogue when that’s the stance," asks Reznor, who calls into question Trump's denial of science and adds that it's one of his many flaws as a candidate.

Speaking about Trump's rise in the Republican Party, Reznor added, "It is surreal. I’ll admit that I was entertained during the Republican debates and the whole process of whittling them down. It’s kind of fun to see a grenade go off and see these guys -- I hate every one of them -- be eliminated and humiliated. But it stopped being funny months ago. It’s sad to see the discourse be dragged this low. It’s absurd that this is even happening."

Whether he wins the election or not, there has been talk of Trump forming his own TV network. When asked about his thoughts on Trump's longterm effect on the political landscape, Reznor stated, "I’m absolutely terrified about that. Hopefully Trump will flame out any minute now, but the effect of him -- or he himself -- is not going to go away, and there’s going to be an awful lot of very energized followers. We all know they’re not going to say, 'Well, let’s support Hillary because she’s the president now.' She’s walking into a terrible situation."

Circling back to the issue of global warming, the musician says he got involved in the Before the Flood documentary in part because of the visibility it could bring. "The idea of taking one of the most recognizable celebrities on the planet [Leonardo DiCaprio] who cares deeply about this and presenting a digestible overview of this, and putting it out in a fashion where there’s a low barrier of entry to see it -- it’s being broadcast everywhere and available on all platforms -- and the fact that they were always trying to get this out before the election, if I can contribute in some small way to make this a little bit louder then it’s my duty to do that."

The Before the Flood documentary will screen in Los Angeles and New York on Oct. 21 before receiving its TV screening on the National Geographic Channel on Oct. 30.

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