Climate activist Greta Thunberg has hit back at the US President after he mocked her speech at the UN Climate Action Summit.
Earlier today President Donald Trump posted a sarcastic tweet alongside a news story about the warning Ms Thunberg delivered to the UN yesterday.
The 73-year-old told his 64.7 million followers that: "She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see!"
The 16-year-old did not respond; however, this afternoon she changed her Twitter bio to: “A very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future.”
In an emotional and impassioned speech, she took world leaders to task for their “empty words” on the crisis.
"You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words and yet I am one of the lucky ones,” she said.
“People are suffering; people are dying; entire ecosystems are collapsing.
“We are in the beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth.
“How dare you.
“For more than 30 years, the science has been crystal clear
“How dare you continue to look away and come here saying you are doing enough, when the politics and solutions needed are still nowhere in sight.”
She said her message to the leaders was that “we will be watching you.”
President Trump spent only a few minutes at the climate summit – the centrepiece of this year's UN General Assembly schedule.
Ms Thunberg was filmed glaring at the president as he walked past her on Monday.
I think a lot of us can relate.
pic.twitter.com/NgOqVZ3Ym6— Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) September 23, 2019
Mr Trump is not the only one to take a dig at Thunberg. Fox News has apologised after one of its guests called her mentally ill - with the network saying he would never appear on the network again.
Speaking in New York this afternoon, the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he did not understand why people would want to attack her.
Leo Varadkar on Greta Thunberg:
“The bottom line is she’s a sixteen year old girl who’s trying to make the world a better place. Why would you want to slag her off?” pic.twitter.com/z41Ewxd9LB— Seán Defoe (@SeanDefoe) September 24, 2019
“The bottom line is she is a sixteen year old girl who’s trying to make the world a better place,” he said.
“Why would you want to slag her off?”
In her speech Ms Thunberg said she does not believe politicians when they tell her they understand the urgency of the climate crisis.
“If you really understood the situation and still kept on failing to act then you would be evil – and that I refuse to believe,” she said.
“You are failing us - but young people are starting to understand your betrayal.”
