Meghan McCain says eco-activist Greta Thunberg didn’t ‘earn’ Time Person of the Year

Meghan McCain has said she doesn’t believe Time magazine’s Person of the Year, Greta Thunberg, ‘earned’ the honor during a segment of The View on Thursday morning. 

While discussing the recent announcement with her talk show colleagues, the conservative co-host said she doesn’t put much stalk into Time’s long-standing award. 

‘I don’t put a lot of clout into the [Time Magazine’s] Person of the Year. Keep in mind, Hitler and the Ayatollah were also the Person of the Year,’ she said. 

McCain then says that she wanted to see the whistleblower receive the title, noting that it would have been a ‘more salient and timely choice.’ 

While admitting that she disagrees with 16-year-old Thunberg’s opinions and movement, McCain says she finds it difficult to talk about the teenaged eco-warrior because of her age. 

She said: ‘I still don’t believe in attacking underaged people. I disagree with her, I think everyone knows how I feel about climate change as religion on the left, but I’m not going to attack a 16-year-old in the same way I don’t agree with attacking Barron Trump.’

McCain was referring the hotly contested moment when Stanford University professor Pamela Karlan made a reference to President Donald Trump’s son, Barron, during the first impeachment hearing this month. 

First Lady Melania Trump spoke out publicly to condemn the move on her Twitter account shortly afterwards, saying minors should be off-limits from politics.  

Host Joy Behar pondered why Melania was quick to defend her 13-year-old son, but decidedly silent when her husband directed a pointed tweet at Thunberg. 

Sunny Hostin added: ‘I did not think it was appropriate for Barron’s name to be invoked even as an analogy, as some sort of pun.’

‘And I don’t think it’s appropriate for the president to go after a teenager who has Asperger’s, who’s a climate change activist, and I would like to see from the first lady the same kind of energy and verve with which she used defending her son.’ 

McCain seem unswayed by the argument and held firm to her belief that the award was of better use to another global figure. 

 ‘I just didn’t think she earned it in the same way that the whistleblower did when it comes to influence this year,’ she said. 

McCain doubled down on her statement, noting that this achievement may be Thunberg’s ‘peak.’

‘I don’t agree with her as a choice, and I also think if you are 16, is this peak for her? What comes next? I mean, this is a high, high bar for her,’ she said.

‘I don’t know how you can possibly live up when you are 17 when you’re already person of the year.’ 

President Trump logged onto Twitter to vent his frustrations over Time’s decision to choose Thunberg and called the move ‘so ridiculous.’

‘Greta must work on her Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Greta, Chill!’ he wrote. 

Don Jr., the president’s first son, piggybacked off his father’s remarks and took aim at the teenager from his own Twitter account. 

‘Time leaves out the Hong Kong Protesters fighting for their lives and freedoms to push a teen being used as a marketing gimmick. How dare you?’ he wrote.

In a separate tweet, Don Jr. shared a doctored photo of Time Magazine’s Person of the Year cover with Trump’s face replacing Thunberg. 

He said: ‘When it comes to keeping his promises, there’s only one Person Of The Year: ‘Booming Economy, Record Job Creation, Historic Tax Cuts, [America First] Trade Deals, ISIS Destroyed, Building the Wall.’

While the Trump men have been vocal about their sentiments, Melania has been noticeably silent about the whole affair.

Thousands of social media users have said Melania’s actions are hypocritical and have called out the Be Best campaign, her initiative that includes combating cyberbullying.        

One user wrote: ‘Where is the faux “first lady’s” outrage about [Be Best] as her husband taunts 16-year-old [Greta Thunberg] Time Magazine’s Person of the Year?’

‘She was so worked up when Professor Karlan used Barron’s name as an example about monarchy. But it’s okay for Trump to trash tweet Greta?’

Another user said: ‘Imagine being President of the United States, but still so insecure you have to publicly bully a 16 yo girl.’

In the end, it appears Thunberg had the last laugh after she used her Twitter bio to mock Trump’s criticism. 

‘A teenager working on her anger management problem. Currently chilling and watching a good old fashioned movie with a friend,’ she wrote.