President Donald Trump lashed out at 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg on Thursday, a day after she was named by Time as its Person of the Year, calling her selection “ridiculous."
The Swedish teenager has become a symbol of a growing movement of young climate activists after leading weekly school strikes in her country that inspired similar actions in about 100 cities worldwide.
She has drawn large crowds with her fiery appearances at protests and conferences over the past year and a half.
In a Thursday morning tweet, Trump said, “Greta must work on her Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend!” He added: “Chill Greta, Chill!”.
Thunberg responded by changing her Twitter profile bio to read: “A teenager working on her anger management problem. Currently chilling and watching a good old fashioned movie with a friend.”
Thunberg has sarcastically changed her bio in the past. Trump is just the second world leader to take aim at Thunberg this week. Her concern over the slayings of indigenous Brazilians in the Amazon drew a harsh rebuke from Brazil's president on Tuesday. Recently, after Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro—whose policies are linked with the destruction of the Amazon forest—called her a 'Piralha' meaning 'little brat', she changed her bio to 'piralha'.
She has been outspoken about her diagnosis with Asperger's syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder associated with high intelligence and impaired social skills.
“I have Aspergers and that means I'm sometimes a bit different from the norm," she tweeted this year.
"And—given the right circumstances- being different is a superpower.” It's not the first time Trump has lashed out after not being recognized for his influence.
In 2015, Trump attacked German Chancellor Angela Merkel for “ruining Germany” after she was named Person of the Year, when he was listed as a runner-up.
