On Monday, 16-year-old Greta Thunberg delivered an incredible speech at the United Nations climate action summit, where she called upon adults to take accountability and do the work to curb the climate crisis. Her speech went viral (you can check it out embedded below), which isn’t too surprising given that Thunberg has been a leader in the international climate justice movement.
What also isn’t surprising, sadly, is that conservative pundits went on Fox News to criticize and berate the Swedish teenager. In a smidge of the bright side, Fox News has apologized for comments from Daily Wire host Michael Knowles, who discussed Thunberg’s speech during a segment on Fox News’ The Story. While we all know that Fox News isn’t the place to go for accurate climate reporting (and that’s using generous phrasing), Knowles stooped to a special kind of low by describing the teenage leader as “mentally ill.”
"The climate hysteria movement is not about science," Knowles said during the segment. "If it were about science, it would be led by scientists, rather than by politicians and a mentally ill Swedish child who is being exploited by her parents and by the international left."
No matter anyone’s diagnosis or mental state, that sort of language is abhorrent. It’s especially disgusting given that Thunberg is open about living with Asperger’s syndrome and is, in addition to her climate work, an autism advocate. Living with a mental illness or disability doesn’t negate anyone’s ability to lead a movement.
Chris Hahn, the progressive podcast host who was in the same segment, interrupted Knowles and tried to stop his tirade against Thunberg. "Relax, skinny boy. I got this," Hahn stated. "You're attacking a child. You're a grown man."
Knowles was apparently undeterred and continued, "She is mentally ill. She has autism. She has obsessive-compulsive disorder. She has selective mutism. She had depression."
Here’s the Fox News clip:
After a sizeable online outrage, Fox News did issue an apology: "The comment made by Michael Knowles who was a guest on The Story tonight was disgraceful—we apologize to Greta Thunberg and to our viewers,” a Fox News spokesperson told the Daily Beast.
Great! Now, what do you think it will take for Fox News to apologize for all of its backward takes on the climate crisis?
In case you missed it, here’s Thunberg’s brilliant speech from yesterday:
And the full stream of the climate action summit: