White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said President Trump mocking 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg is not comparable to a university professor referencing 13-year-old Barron Trump during impeachment testimony.
First lady Melania Trump, whose “Be Best” initiative focuses on the well-being of children and seeks to combat cyberbullying, was criticized for her silence when her husband insulted Thunberg after she was named Time magazine’s Person of the Year.
“Be Best is the first lady’s initiative, and she will continue to use it to do all she can to help children,” Grisham said in a statement to CNN on Friday. “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.”
Grisham, who also is the first lady’s communications director, did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
Stanford Law professor Pamela Karlan said she was “wrong” earlier this month to have mentioned Barron Trump during a House impeachment hearing. Karlan used the name of Trump’s son to attack the president.
“The Constitution doesn’t allow titles of nobility,” Karlan told House Judiciary Committee. “So, while the president can name his son Barron, he can’t make him a baron.”
The first lady said her son “deserves privacy and should be kept out of politics.”
“Pamela Karlan, you should be ashamed of your very angry and obviously biased public pandering, and using a child to do it,” she tweeted.
But on Thursday, when the president mocked Thunberg, who has Asperger’s syndrome, as having an “Anger Management problem,” those who were outraged over Karlan’s comment about Trump were notably silent.
