Key Points
- Greta Thunberg has shut down the taunts of a controversial social media personality.
- Andrew Tate attempted to boast about his high emitting-car collection on Twitter.
- Here's how the climate activist responded..
This article contains references to rape.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg has shut down the taunts of controversial social media personality Andrew Tate after he attempted to boast about his high emitting-car collection on Twitter.
Mr Tate, who describes himself as a "success coach", had until recently been banned from the platform before new owner Elon Musk welcomed back banned accounts under "free speech".
In the original tweet, he tagged the 19-year-old telling her he owned 33 cars, including luxury cars with big emissions.
"Please provide your email address so I can send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions," he tweeted on Tuesday.
Ms Thunberg quipped back on Twitter, saying Mr Tate could enlighten her by sending his list to "smalld--kenergy@getalife.com".
Her sting went viral, amassing over 1.5 million likes within hours. It didn't end there, with Mr Tate engaging again.
"Thank you for confirming via your email address that you have a small penis @GretaThunberg," Mr Tate said on Twitter, alongside a video of him smoking a cigar.
"The world was curious. And I do agree you should get a life."
It's not the first time Mr Tate has targeted the Swedish campaigner.
Almost immediately after his return to the platform last month, Mr Tate posted a mocking video of Ms Thunberg's famous United Nations speech, clipping it with flashy cars, private planes, and videos of him laughing.
Who is Andrew Tate?
Mr Tate returned to Twitter in November after being banned in 2017 for violating its term of service when he tweeted that rape victims "bear some responsibility".
The British-American kickboxer-turned-influencer promotes an opulent, violent, "playboy" lifestyle where he portrays himself as a man who "gets what he wants", imploring other young men to subscribe to his teachings.
Now he has returned to Twitter, with messages about being the "last super hero of masculinity" proclaiming he will save everyone.
While some of his fans are welcoming his return to Twitter, others are questioning his comeback to the platform. Mr Tate has a history of controversial posts online and has faced criticism over his content.
In August this year, he was banned from YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok after violating the platforms' hate speech policies. Before the bans, domestic violence advocates voiced concern over the "misogynistic" and "violent" messaging being shared in his videos.
Women are property, can’t drive, and only deserve to be resuscitated when they’re "hot", were some of the messages shared in now-deleted videos of Mr Tate.
Greta Thunberg has fired back on Twitter before
In 2019, after Ms Thunberg was named Time's person of the year, then-President Donald Trump called it "ridiculous" and said she must "work on her Anger Management, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Greta, Chill!".
In response to the tweet, Ms Thunberg changed her Twitter bio.
"A teenager working on her anger management problem. Currently chilling and watching a good old fashioned movie with a friend," it stated.
The spat continued when Mr Trump tweeted false accusations of the 2020 US election being rigged.
In response, Ms Thunberg replied to his tweet with his very words.
"So ridiculous. Donald must work on his Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Donald, Chill!" she said on Twitter."
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