CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said he thought it was okay for President Trump to criticize 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.
Responding to CNN chief political analyst Gloria Borger, who said she did not think it was appropriate for Trump to attack Thunberg, Toobin said, “I have to say, I disagree a little bit. She’s a public figure.”
“She gives speeches. I think talking about her is pretty much fair game,” Toobin said as others on the CNN panel could be heard expressing disagreement after the comment. “You know what’s worse? Denying that global warming is happening,” he added. “I don’t really care about being mean on Twitter. That’s who he is.”
Trump attacked the climate activist Thursday on Twitter, saying she should “chill” and go to a movie with her friends. “Greta must work on her Anger Management problem,” the president said in the tweet. Thunberg responded by changing her Twitter bio to say she was a “teenager working on her anger management. Currently chilling and watching a good old fashioned movie with a friend.”
Thunberg beat out Trump to become Time’s “Person of the Year” on Wednesday. The magazine described her as sparking “a global movement by skipping school.” The activist has been missing school to protest climate change around the world.
[Read more: ‘Marketing gimmick’: Don Trump Jr. mocks Time for naming Greta Thunberg 2019 Person of the Year]
