First lady Melania Trump issued a statement that cited a key difference between her son, Barron, and teenage climate change activist Greta Thunberg.
The statement, issued from White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham to CNN reporter Kate Bennett and released by Bennett via Twitter on Friday, comes after President Donald Trump suggested that Thunberg work on her “Anger Management problem” after the climate activist became the youngest to win Time’s “Person of the Year.”
“BeBest is the First Lady’s initiative, and she will continue to use it to do all she can to help children,” the statement read. “It is no secret that the President and First Lady often communicate differently – 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 to me regarding @FLOTUS response to @realDonaldTrump’s tweet directed at @GretaThunberg : pic.twitter.com/4BPxK2KSTd
— Kate Bennett (@KateBennett_DC) December 13, 2019
Thunberg, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, won global fame after a fiery speech to the United Nations in December during which she accused world leaders of “stealing” their children’s futures. (RELATED: Tucker: Greta Thunberg Is ‘A Kind Of Human Shield’ Politicians Use To ‘Demand Power’)
“How dare you continue to look away and come here saying that you’re doing enough when the politics and solutions needed are still nowhere in sight,” she told world leaders. “You say you hear us and that you understand the urgency, but no matter how sad and angry I am, I do not want to believe that. Because if you really understood the situation and still kept on failing to act then you would be evil and that I refuse to believe.”
“Greta must work on her Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend!” Trump tweeted after the Time announcement. “Chill Greta, Chill!”
So ridiculous. Greta must work on her Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Greta, Chill! https://t.co/M8ZtS8okzE
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 12, 2019
The president’s criticism of Thunberg was widely condemned. Thunberg herself responded 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.”