Piers Morgan has claimed he worries about Greta Thunberg “more than her supporters” and thinks the teenage climate campaigner is being used.
The Good Morning Britain presenter was responding to criticism on Twitter after he ridiculed the Swedish 16-year-old for attending a demonstration over global warming in Vancouver on Friday.
Morgan, who has previously performed a mocking impression of Thunberg on live TV, replied to photo the activist had posted: “Congrats. Looks like you’re having a lot of fun despite we ghastly adults ruining your childhood. Will you be reaching school again any time soon?”
The presenter was swiftly criticised for his sarcastic comment, which referenced a powerful speech Thunberg delivered at the UN in September in which she told world leaders: “You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words.”
One person accused Morgan of “hating on a child” while another said he was “picking” on Thunberg.
Morgan later responded to the criticisms in another tweet, writing: “Oh, I don’t hate Greta at all.
"I find her passion admirable, albeit her rhetoric can be very hectoring and annoying.
“But I think she’s being used, and I worry about her more than her supporters seem to.”
Thunberg's emergence as one of the most recognisable faces in environmental activism has seen her come under attack from a range of prominent figures including US president Donald Trump and the owner of luxury fashion conglomerate Louis Vuitton Moet Hennesey.
Many other celebrities have praised her, however, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Kim Kardashian West, who recently said she would love to introduce Thunberg to her young children.
