Image: Greta Thunberg / Twitter
Vegan climate activist Greta Thunberg has updated her Twitter bio to mime US President Donald Trump’s Twitter taunt that was written after she won the Time Person of the Year 2019.
After Greta Thunberg was announced as Time magazine’s Person of the Year, Trump at his sardonic best appeared to jeer the 16-year- old again.
“So ridiculous,” he tweeted on Thursday in response to actor and author Roma Downey’s congratulatory message to Thunberg for the Time honor.
“Greta must work on her Anger Management problem, then go to a good old-fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Greta, Chill!”
Several social media users lambasted the president’s salacious comments.
Pennsylvanian Democratic Senator Bob Casey, censured Mr. Trump for his “decision to mock a child – AGAIN.”
He tweeted: “(It is) beneath the office of the President and an insult to people throughout the world.”
“This is our President mocking a kid for trying to save our planet. Some of you voted for this guy, and are going to do it again ?♂️,” read another tweet.
“Just a tweet from the President of the United States attacking a 16 year old girl who gets better press than him,” tweeted a third.
Actor George Takei tweeted: ” She’s person of the year and you’re not. We get it. Sore losers gonna be sore. Make America Greta Again!”
Some hinted the President was jealous because he missed out on winning the award.
“Lmao someone’s president is jealous and bullying a 16 year old girl,” commented a Tweeter.
Others called for the first lady Melania Trump’s attention, who ironically runs an anti-bullying Be Best campaign, and had recently pulled up legal scholar Pamela Karlan for a sarcastic reference to Trump’s son Baron during the President’s impeachment hearings.
“@FLOTUS what was that you were saying last week about attacking minors?” questioned a Twitter user
“The President of the United States is bullying a 16-year-old. How is the #BeBest crusade going, @FLOTUS?” posted another.
“Dear Melania,” tweeted a third. “What are your thoughts about the bully-in-chief harassing Greta Thunberg today?”
“It only took her husband a week to turn this tweet into a hypocritical joke,” read another tweet.
Thunberg Response
But Thunberg calmly adopted her earlier strategy to get back at Donald Trump.
The climate leader simply updated her Twitter bio to mirror Trump’s taunt.
Her bio now reads: “A teenager working on her anger management problem. Currently chilling and watching a good old fashioned movie with a friend.”
This is not the first time Thunberg has tweaked her Twitter bio in response to the US President and other leaders’ criticism of her.
In an earlier instance, she changed her bio to “pirralha” – the Portuguese word for brat – after Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro rebuked her for publicizing the plight of Brazil’s indigenous people.
Mr Bolsonaro told reporters: “Greta’s been saying Indians have died because they were defending the Amazon.
“It’s amazing how much space the press gives this kind of pirralha.”
In October her bio was changed to read “a kind but poorly informed teenager,” which were words used by Russian President Vladimir Putin to describe her at a conference in Moscow.
After her showdown at the UN Summit conference, Trump had mocked her stating: “She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future.”
Thunberg had promptly changed her bio to “A very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future”.
Despite her detractors, Thunberg is resolute on fighting for a brighter future for her generation.
In her interview with Time, she said: “We are children saying, ‘Why should we care about our future when no one else is doing that? And why should we bother to learn facts when facts don’t matter in this society?’ When children say something like that, I think adults feel very bad.
“This is an existential crisis that is going to affect our whole civilization, the biggest crisis humanity has ever faced.
“I’m not planning to stop this movement, and I don’t think anyone else is either.”
What do you think of Greta Thunberg’s activism? Share your thoughts in the comments below!