CNN anchor Chris Cuomo once had a meltdown and bizarrely accused President Trump of employing N-word-level racist insults when he called Cuomo “Fredo.” So it’s not really surprising to see the anchor clutching his pearls over recent conservative criticisms of the hyperalarmist climate change activism of Greta Thunberg.
The controversy began when Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin was asked by a reporter Thursday about Thunberg and her criticisms of economic reliance on fossil fuels. Mnuchin made a joke and said with a smile, “After she goes and studies economics in college, she can go back and explain that to us.”
Anyone with an ounce of common sense understands that it is perfectly reasonable for the secretary of the Treasury Department to laugh off economic advice from a 17-year-old girl who has been so scared out of her mind by grown-ups that she won’t even attend school. It seems par for the course to point out her lack of qualifications to lecture the world on climate, economics, or anything else. But Cuomo couldn’t seem to bear Mnuchin’s comments.
The CNN host tweeted, “Why do these trumpers think it is ok to go at a kid?” It was an absurd reaction that was widely mocked — and rightfully so.
— Jay Caruso (@JayCaruso) January 23, 2020
Hahahahahahahahaha Pardon me while I die laughing forever.
— Bridget Phetasy (@BridgetPhetasy) January 23, 2020
Your network had to pay a settlement to a 17-year-old for smearing him as a racist for smirking
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 23, 2020
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) January 23, 2020
There’s so much to ridicule in Cuomo’s attack that it’s hard to know where to begin.
For one, Mnuchin didn’t “go at a kid.” The secretary was specifically asked about Thunberg by a reporter, so he didn’t exactly go out of his way to bring her up. And she’s not some random child. (Is 17 really a “kid” now?) Thunberg was literally Time’s Person of the Year for 2019 and has been heralded by liberals and climate activists across the world as a savior. In fact, the global Left has treated Thunberg with almost cult-like reverence. She has lectured the United Nations and the world about what’s best for global economic and environmental policy despite, frankly, understanding very little about the subject.
When a young person is propped up, harmfully so, by liberals as an ideological advocate worth listening to, it’s more than fair to criticize her ideas or qualifications. They can’t just use her as an intellectual human shield. What part of this doesn’t Cuomo understand?
Of course, there are some conservatives who have taken their criticism of Thunberg too far and entered the territory of cruel ad hominem, but no one could accuse Mnuchin of such a thing. His lighthearted criticism was well within the boundaries of fair debate and good taste.
Plus, it’s extremely hypocritical for CNN’s Cuomo, of all people, to say it’s wrong to criticize young people. Both his network and Cuomo himself falsely smeared Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann as an evil racist just to suit their narrative about Trump supporters. (For more on the entire fiasco, read Robby Soave’s one-year review.) They just had to settle a massive lawsuit because of their false attacks on a “kid.”
All in all, the liberal media’s approach to Greta Thunberg is just tiring. If you’re going to scold us with Thunberg’s advocacy, don’t freak out whenever someone dares to question her infinite wisdom.
