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Sebastian Gorka ― former Trump aide turned conservative commentator ― called 17-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg “thunder thighs” in a radio broadcast on Tuesday.
In a clip posted online by the liberal group Media Matters, Gorka and guest Andrew Klavan ― an author and political commentator ― began talking about teenager Nick Sandmann, the student who just reached a settlement with CNN after suing the network.
“I heard about this too, and boy, oh boy, does he ever deserve it,” Klavan said about the Covington Catholic High School student who was briefly in the news last year when he and some classmates were involved in a confrontation with an elderly Native American man during a trip to D.C. “If ever a kid ― you know, these are people who will defend Greta Thuns ― whatever her name. What is her name? Greta Thunberg?”
“Thunder thighs,” Gorka answered. “Greta Thunberg.”
Klavan went on to defend Sandmann, and said the media has standards different for conservative and liberal teens.
“They will lay their bodies down to defend any 16-year-old who stands up for a left-wing cause,” Klavan said. “And suddenly, you know, if you say anything at all about them, you’re an evil child molester.”
People online, meanwhile, were quick to slam Gorka for talking about Thunberg’s body.
Thunberg, Time’s Person of the Year for 2019, has been a regular target of criticism. Everyone from the singer Meatloaf (who called her “brainwashed”) to the president of the United States (who said she has anger problems) has taken a shot at the teenager. For her part, Thunberg has been unflappable and relentless.
“It’s not about what some people call me. It’s not about left or right,” she tweeted in response to Meatloaf, for instance. “It’s all about scientific facts. And that we’re not aware of the situation. Unless we start to focus everything on this, our targets will soon be out of reach.”
Cover: Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg addresses a plenary of U.N. climate conference at the COP25 summit in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019. Thunberg is in Madrid where a global U.N.-sponsored climate change conference is taking place. (AP Photo/Paul White)
