Melania Trump has spoken out (through her press secretary) after being called upon to act following her husband’s tweets about climate activist Greta Thunberg.
On Thursday, the president went after 16-year-old Thunberg after she was named Time’s Person of the Year, writing, “So ridiculous. Greta must work on her Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Greta, Chill!”
Thunberg subsequently shrugged off his tweet by changing her Twitter bio to read, “A teenager working on her anger management problem. Currently chilling and watching a good old fashioned movie with a friend.”
Given that the first lady has chosen to focus on anti-bullying initiative “Be Best” during her time in the White House, it’s not surprising that people called on her to act โ or even make some kind of statement โ after her husband bullied a teen online.
On Friday, she made a statement to CNN reporter Kate Bennett through White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, who sent out a statement reading, “BeBest is the First Lady’s initiative, and she will continue to do all she can to help children. It is no secret that the President and First Lady often communicate differently โ as most married couples do. Their son is not an activist who travels the globe giving speeches. He is a 13-year-old who wants and deserves privacy.”
Statement from @PressSec [1] to me regarding @FLOTUS [2] response to @realDonaldTrump [3]โs tweet directed at @GretaThunberg [4] : pic.twitter.com/4BPxK2KSTd [5]
— Kate Bennett (@KateBennett_DC) December 13, 2019 [6]
Previously, people had called FLOTUS a hypocrite for remaining silent while Donald Trump mocked Thunberg on Twitter for the second time in months, while getting up in arms when son Barron was name-dropped during an impeachment hearing. Pamela Karlan, a professor at Stanford Law School and the witness who invoked Barron’s name, has since apologized for doing so.
The implication in her statement is that since Thunberg is an activist who has been in the public eye, she’s fair game to be mocked on Twitter by the President of the United States.
Though the statement says the first lady “will continue to do all she can to help children,” it’s clear that she doesn’t mean all children here, at least, not Thunberg.
As you can imagine, Twitter was FURIOUS:
Ugh melania is such a lazy, complicit, hypocritical bitch. Gfy https://t.co/s0V6edPIoL [7]
— Renee' Michele (@deardenrm) December 13, 2019 [8]
lol melania just outright confirmed what i have previously said about her anti-bullying initiative literally just applying to her son https://t.co/ALOcH3yGPK [9]
— Matt Binder (@MattBinder) December 13, 2019 [10]
The end of this like when people blame rape on the clothing a woman wears as if he that entitles someone to act however they want. The same attitude permeates https://t.co/VmRgxjDmhm [11]
— ๐John Kocher๐ (@jlkocher2) December 13, 2019 [12]
Well, whoopie fucking do.
All she did was double down.
'Dont talk about or bully MY KID, (Which he was not) but fuck anyone else's kid that my Old man wants to criticize, talk about OR ATTACK. https://t.co/APjVenW8yo [13]— Vickie ๐พ ๐๐ทโณ๐๐งโโ๏ธโฎ (@vik1958) December 13, 2019 [14]
Thanks to FLOTUS for clarifying which young teenagers are ok to bully & which aren't. https://t.co/p3e6Ayp71T [15]
— David Roberts (@drvox) December 13, 2019 [16]
Sooo…in other words it doesn't matter that Trump bullies a 16 year old…it has nothing to do with Baron not being an activist, but their age! https://t.co/Wh4lheYZJc [17]
— Denise L. Perrault (@perrault777) December 13, 2019 [18]
Is this their version of "she was asking for it?" https://t.co/TlMYoyDOAP [19]
— P-lo Semedo (@FollowThePaulo) December 13, 2019 [20]