By now we all know Greta Thunberg as the inspiring young Swedish environmental activist and UN Ambassador who’s been challenging government officials and world leaders to take stronger action in addressing the climate crisis since she was just 15. Because of her status as a renowned activist, it can be easy to forget that Thunberg is still remarkably young, just freshly having exited her teenage years. She proved this to us all in the best way with a sassy Twitter clapback in response to Andrew Tate, a 36-year-old former kickboxer and entrepreneur who’s gained online notoriety (and multiple social media platform suspensions) for being a virulent, outspoken misogynist and right-wing troll.
On December 27th, Tate took it upon himself to antagonize the now 20-year-old Thunberg by tweeting at her to “provide [her] email so [he] can send a complete list of [his] car collection and their respective enormous emissions.” Clearly trying to goad her into responding, he got the attention he wanted – but perhaps not in the way he was hoping for.
Hello @GretaThunberg
I have 33 cars.
My Bugatti has a w16 8.0L quad turbo.
My TWO Ferrari 812 competizione have 6.5L v12s.
This is just the start.
Please provide your email address so I can send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions. pic.twitter.com/ehhOBDQyYU
— Andrew Tate (@Cobratate) December 27, 2022
Ever-skilled in shutting down online trolls, Thunberg quoted Tate’s tweet to write, “Yes, please do enlighten me. Email me at[email protected].” Her word choice doesn’t seem to be coincidental given that Tate bragged about his cars’ “enormous emissions” – Tate’s attempt to flex quickly backfired, with Thunberg’s response becoming one of the most-liked tweets of all time—currently at 3.9M likes.
yes, please do enlighten me. email me at [email protected] https://t.co/V8geeVvEvg
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) December 28, 2022
Following Tate and Thunberg’s Twitter exchange, however, the public soon learned that Andrew Tate, who has been upheld as “The King of Toxic Masculinity”, is an even more rotten human being than we thought.
Tate was arrested on suspicion of human trafficking by Romanian authorities during a surprise raid of his bolthole outside Bucharest Thursday night, less than two days after his Twitter spat with the activist. Tate and his brother, Tristan, were allegedly “recruiting” women via social media and persuading them to travel to Romania before coercing the women into making pornographic content. The two brothers, along with Georgiana Naghel (Tate’s alleged girlfriend) and Luana Radu (a former police officer who quit the force to work in video chat rooms), have been detained since Thursday after a court agreed to extend their detention by 30 days. Six alleged victims have been identified. Tate has been linked to the organized trafficking ring since at least April of 2022, when his home was raided and he was detained for questioning by Romanian authorities.
Thank you for confirming via your email address that you have a small penis @GretaThunberg
The world was curious.
And I do agree you should get a life ❤️ https://t.co/mHmiKHjDGH pic.twitter.com/SMisajQRcf
— Andrew Tate (@Cobratate) December 28, 2022
The short period of time between Tate’s tweets at Greta Thunberg and his arrest resulted in a popular belief that the two events were somehow connected. In the above video from Andrew Tate, two pizza boxes from a Romanian chain, Jerry’s, are seen. Social media users quickly began speculating that the pizza boxes tipped authorities off to the fact Tate was residing in Romania and were the catalyst for his arrest. This is untrue, given that Tate’s previous social media posts already made it very clear that he was in Romania. An anti-organized crime representative stated that the pizza boxes did not lead to Tate’s arrest, but that doesn’t mean Greta Thunberg didn’t get one last laugh following the incident; She tweeted, “this is what happens when you don’t recycle your pizza boxes.”
this is what happens when you don’t recycle your pizza boxes
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) December 30, 2022
Top Photo: Photo of Thunberg By Lëa-Kim Châteauneuf – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=82608802
