The “Be Best” hashtag from first lady Melania Trump’s anti-cyberbullying campaign began trending in the United States after President Trump launched a Twitter attack on 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.
The president tweeted earlier Thursday that it was “ridiculous” that Time magazine chose Thunberg as its “Person of the Year,” an honor he was shortlisted for. Trump wrote that the teenager needed to “work on her Anger Management problem.”
Thousands of social media users called on Melania Trump to respond to her husband’s remarks in light of her “Be Best” campaign, which encourages children to be kind on social media and speak “with respect and compassion.”
Several also noted that Melania Trump criticized legal expert Pamela Karlan last week after Karlan mentioned the Trumps’ teenage son, Barron, during testimony as part of the House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry.
“Pamela Karlan, you should be ashamed of your very angry and obviously biased public pandering, and using a child to do it,” Melania Trump wrote in a rare tweet.
Karlan later apologized for her comments, saying, “I want to apologize for what I said earlier about the president’s son. It was wrong of me to do that. I wish the president would apologize, obviously, for the things that he’s done that’s wrong, but I do regret having said that.”
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), a vocal critic of the president, wrote that she agrees with the first lady that “children are off limits.”
“Tell your husband to #bebest and go enroll himself in anger management instead of attacking such a brilliant and courageous teenager fighting for climate change,” Waters wrote. “@GretaThunberg we got your back!”
“What say you, anti-bullying crusader, #BeBest warrior, minor child privacy protector @FLOTUS?” wrote Andy Lassner, the executive producer of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”
Actress Bette Midler wrote that the president was “bullying” Thunberg and it apparently went “unnoticed” by Melania Trump and her advisers.
The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.
Thunberg did not address President Trump’s recent comments, but changed her bio on Twitter to describe herself as a “teenager working on her anger management problem.”
“Currently chilling and watching a good old fashioned movie with a friend,” her bio reads.
Time announced on Wednesday that it was naming Thunberg its “Person of the Year” for drawing attention to the threat of climate change. She is the youngest person to ever to receive the honor.
The president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., criticized the outlet for selecting the activist “as a marketing gimmick” instead of pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong.
Updated at 12:58 p.m.