Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg on Saturday called on Americans to vote for Democratic candidate Joe Biden at next month’s U.S. presidential election.
“I never engage in party politics, but the upcoming U.S. election is above and beyond all that,” Thunberg, a leading figure in the international climate movement Fridays for Future, wrote on her Twitter page.
“From a climate perspective, it’s very far from enough and many of you, of course, supported other candidates,” the 17-year-old wrote. “But, I mean … you know… damn! Just get organised and get everyone to vote Biden.”
US incumbent Donald Trump often takes climate sceptic positions. On the issue of climate change, he said in mid-September, amid the historic forest fires devastating parts of California, that the planet was getting cooler. His stance prompted Joe Biden to dub him a “climate arsonist”.
The present occupant of the White House has repeatedly referred disparagingly to Greta Thunberg. When Time magazine designated her as personality of the year in December last, Trump mocked her on Twitter, writing that she needed to “work on her anger management problem, then go to a good, old-fashioned movie with a friend.”
After the young climate activist’s visit to the United Nations in September 2019 and her famous “How dare you” speech, Trump had said she seemed “like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future,” and had added: “So nice to see!”
Biden, for his part, has had good words for Thunberg. In April, he welcomed her actions, saying that he listened to young people’s aspirations on climate.
Last month, the U.S, journal Scientific American also called on Americans to vote for the Democratic candidate come 3 November. In its first public position on party politics since its founding nearly two centuries ago, the journal lambasted Trump for his rejection of science and his “denial” of climate change.
On Friday, it renewed that call in a new editorial, relayed by Thunberg in her tweet.
The Brussels Times
