Greta Thunberg has found herself the target of yet another Twitter attack by a disgruntled older man, and the back-and-forth has taken social media by storm.
The 19-year-old climate activist, who helped lead a global movement of students demanding climate change action at 15, was subjected to a seemingly random Twitter attack by Andrew Tate – a man who rose to global fame this year thanks to his misogynist social media posts.
Tate, who promotes himself as the ultimate alpha male and spruiks beliefs such as women are the property of men, was previously banned from Twitter in 2017 for violating its terms of service, and was this year also banned from Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.
But it seems Tate’s Twitter account is back in action, and on Tuesday he used it to send a message to Thunberg.
“Hello [Greta Thunberg],” it read.
“I have 33 cars. My Bugatti has a w16 8.0L quad turbo. My TWO Ferrari 812 competizione have 6.5L v12s. This is just the start.
“Please provide your email address so I can send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions.”
Almost a day later, Thunberg made a snappy reply: “yes, please do enlighten me. email me at [email protected].”
Tate has taken to retweeting messages from his supporters, but many Twitter users have declared Thunberg the winner of the verbal sparring, poking fun at Tate for his posturing and losing to a young girl.
Tweet from @Kon__K
Tweet from @OwenJones84
Tweet from @mikegalsworthy
Thunberg’s high-profile Twitter record
Thunberg has never been one to take provocations lying down.
Arguably her most infamous Twitter exchange occurred in response to a series of insults from then-US President Donald Trump in 2019 and 2020.
When Trump took to Twitter to throw around accusations of voter fraud as he realised he was on track to lose his re-election race in 2020, Thunberg took the opportunity to reference a tweet he’d sent the year before which suggested the teenager had an anger management problem and needed to “chill”.
“So ridiculous. Donald must work on his Anger Management problem, then go to a good old-fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Donald, Chill!” Thunberg tweeted, quoting Trump.
She had also updated her Twitter bio to read: “A teenager working on her anger management problem. Currently chilling and watching a good old-fashioned movie with a friend.”
Body shaming twist
Tate has since suggested Thunberg “fumbled” her comeback by indicating her email address referenced the idea she had a small penis, not Tate, Thunberg has been widely lauded as “iconic” across social media.
However, her choice of comeback has also come under fire for body shaming, and spurring on others to do the same.
Tweet from @BadAstronomer
Tweet from @hellozeik
There has been a rise of awareness of issues such as fatphobia, but the use of penis sizes in comedy and pop culture to act as a yardstick for masculinity is still normalised, and some have called out Thunberg for participating.
