Pat Sajak has been a familiar face to most of us for over 30 years, showing up in our living rooms every night on Wheel Of Fortune with his lovely sidekick Vanna. The game show host has been a beloved figure on television for years, but he’s managed to stay out of a controversial light until recently, when he took to Twitter regarding a very touchy subject.

Sajak tweeted earlier this week about climate change, calling global warming proponents “unpatriotic racists”. The post set off a firestorm of tweets from both fans and those opposed to his comments.

Sajak has been a longtime critic of global warming, even writing about it for the site Human Events in 2007.

I now believe global warming alarmists are unpatriotic racists knowingly misleading for their own ends. Good night.

— Pat Sajak (@patsajak) May 20, 2014

After his tweet went viral and sparked a debate on Twitter, Sajak responded with another post:

Sometimes it's fun to poke a stick in a hornets' nest just to hear the buzzing.

— Pat Sajak (@patsajak) May 20, 2014

Today, several posts went up on the social media site about the tweet, both in support and in criticism of Sajak.

RT @Sha1De: Let's see if @patsajak can solve the climate change puzzle. pic.twitter.com/4zAx3xkgdk "" @theGOPstoppers >> another one!!

— NO! GOP! NO! (@NoGOPNo) May 21, 2014

Just heard the news about Pat Sajak. I'd like to buy a "WTF," please.

— Sam Grittner (@SamGrittner) May 21, 2014

Pat Sajak publicly commenting on climate change makes about as much sense as Al Gore publicly commenting on climate change.

— Bill Mc7 (@BillMc7) May 21, 2014

A Sad Bedtime Story Once upon a time people got outraged over something Pat Sajak said on the Internet. The End.

— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) May 21, 2014

Pat Sajak says ppl concerned abt Climate Change are unpatriotic racists. Who only care about cleaning up pollution & saving human lives.

— John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) May 20, 2014

Image via Wikimedia Commons