Greta Thunberg responds to ‘deeply disturbed’ hit piece
Newspaper columnist had said the climate change campaigner had mental health issues

Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg has hit back at the Australian News Corp columnist Andrew Bolt for his column that mocked her autism diagnosis.
Bolt’s column in the Herald Sun attacked the Swedish schoolgirl, describing her as “deeply disturbed”, “freakishly influential” and “strange”.
Writing on Twitter, the Swedish schoolgirl criticised the “hate and conspiracy campaigns” run by climate deniers like Bolt and, turning his insult back against him, she said “I am indeed ‘deeply disturbed’ by them”. She also asked: “Where are the adults?”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
He had described her followers as members of a cult and mocked her plan to sail across the Atlantic in a high-speed racing yacht to attend UN climate summits in the US and Chile.
“Thunberg has announced she’s finally going to the United States, the last bastion of the heathen, to preach the global warming faith to the Americans,” Bolt wrote. “Of course, she’s going by racing yacht, because she refuses to fly and heat the planet with an aeroplane’s global warming gasses.”
In a column packed with personal attacks, he wrote: “I have never seen a girl so young and with so many mental disorders treated by so many adults as a guru.
“Far more interesting is why so many adults – including elected politicians, top business leaders, the Pope and journalists – treat a young and strange girl with such awe and even rapture.
“Her intense fear of the climate is not surprising from someone with disorders which intensify fears.”
Bolt even took aim at Greta’s younger sister, saying she has “a spectacular range of mental issues”.
Thunberg rose to prominence around the world after inspiring tens of thousands of students to walk out of school and demand more government action on climate change. She has been nominated for a Nobel peace prize.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
How will the next pope change the Catholic Church?
Talking Points Conclaves can be unpredictable
By Joel Mathis, The Week US
-
Conspiracy theorists circle again following RFK file release
The Explainer Both RFK and his brother, President John F. Kennedy, have been the subjects of conspiracies
By Justin Klawans, The Week US
-
7 equestrian activities for when you feel like horsin' around
The Week Recommends These graceful animals make any experience better
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US
-
Electric ferries are becoming the next big environmental trend
Under the Radar From Hong Kong to Lake Tahoe, electric ferries are the new wave
By Justin Klawans, The Week US
-
Ukraine is experiencing an 'ecocide' and wants Russia to pay
Under the radar The environment is a silent victim of war
By Devika Rao, The Week US
-
How wild horses are preventing wildfires in Spain
Under The Radar The animals roam more than 5,700 hectares of public forest, reducing the volume of combustible vegetation in the landscape
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK
-
Scientists invent a solid carbon-negative building material
Under the radar Building CO2 into the buildings
By Devika Rao, The Week US
-
Dozens of deep-sea creatures discovered after iceberg broke off Antarctica
Under the radar The cold never bothered them anyway
By Devika Rao, The Week US
-
Earth's climate is in the era of 'global weirding'
The Explainer Weather is harder to predict and more extreme
By Devika Rao, The Week US
-
Hot to go: extreme heat can make people age faster
Under the radar New research shows warming temperatures can affect biological age
By Devika Rao, The Week US
-
Parts of California are sinking and affecting sea level
Under the radar Climate change is bringing the land to the sea
By Devika Rao, The Week US