And I’m not talking about Greta Thunberg
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin sharply criticized the financial credentials of Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg on Thursday, saying the 17-year-old should study economics at college before lecturing the U.S. on fossil fuel investments.
Speaking at a press briefing at the World Economic Forum, Mnuchin was asked whether the world’s largest economy needed to completely and immediately divest from fossil fuels. “Is she the chief economist or who is she? I’m confused,” Mnuchin said, before adding this was “a joke. That was funny.” “After she goes and studies economics in college she can come back and explain that to us,” Mnuchin said.
Trump’s chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow only has a Bachelor’s Degree in history, but whatever.
Greta meanwhile, responded like a mature adult:
“So either you tell us how to achieve this mitigation or explain to future generations and those already affected by the climate emergency why we should abandon our climate commitments,” Thunberg said.
The fact that both Trump and Mnuchin actually feel it’s necessary to derisively insult this young woman repeatedly, rather than treat her concerns with the respect they deserve as a voice for her generation, says everything.