Hillary Clinton says grown-up male politicians are 'scared' of Greta Thunberg: 'She's rattling the ancient DNA that still exists in society'
Hillary Clinton shared that male politicians and grown-up leaders are "scared" of climate change activist Greta Thunberg, 16.
The former US secretary of state was promoting a new book she has written with her daughter Chelsea at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall when she made the comments. The book is titled 'The Book Of Gutsy Women: Favourite Stories Of Courage And Resilience' and focuses on the women who have inspired the mother-daughter duo.
The inspiring women include Greta Thunberg whose climate strike outside the Swedish parliament last year had left them "so moved". "It’s been fascinating to watch how scared a lot of grown-up male leaders are of this young 16-year-old girl who speaks up about the threat of climate change," she shared.
She went on to add that a young and determined woman who speaks her opinions still has the power to "rattle" the "ancient DNA" which runs through society. Clinton further added, "It is maddening to think how much that still operates. You could probably take some of the people who have been so critical of her [Greta] on social media and in other settings, attach them to a lie detector and say 'don’t you think that’s a bit sexist'".
Clinton's daughter Chelsea weighed in and shared that people in the US are slamming Thunberg as they cannot attack the science surrounding climate change. "More broadly, her [Thunberg’s] real clarity and fearlessness and just being so unbowed and relentlessly focused on the future I think is incredibly threatening to a lot of people," Chelsea shared.
During the conversation, Clinton also expressed her concerns for the future of politics in the US and UK and stated that she had always admired Britain. She also threw some shade at POTUS Donald Trump and said, "We have a president who admires dictators and takes their help and does all kinds of crazy stuff. We need you to be the sane member of this partnership going forward".