A discussion designed to attack vegans and climate activism took a very ugly turn for Fox News yesterday when a guest attacked 16 year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg as “a mentally ill Swedish child who is being exploited by her parents and by the international left.”

Guest Michael Knowles quickly threw the discussion into chaos soon after he claimed that meatless diets are “far worse” for the environment than “regular meat-filled diets” because they increase water use.

“But none of that matters because the climate hysteria movement is not about science,” Knowles added, as a springboard to demonizing the left.  

“If it were about science, it would be led by scientists rather than by politicians and a mentally-ill Swedish child who is being exploited by her parents and by the international left,” Knowles said.

That unleashed a spate of fury from the other guest, Democrat Chris Hahn. “How dare you,” he said. That later led to the following exchange:

HAHN: I mean, you're a grown man and you're attacking a child. Shame on you. She's trying to do what she thinks is right -- 

KNOWLES: I'm not, I'm attacking the left for exploiting a mentally ill child.

HAHN: Relax, skinny boy. I got this. Okay? You're attacking a child, you're a grown man. … Maybe on your podcast you get away and say whatever you want because nobody’s listening. You’re on national television. Be a grown-up when you’re talking about children. She’s trying to save the planet because your president doesn’t believe in climate change and kids need to take to the streets to worry about their future. You are despicable for talking about her like that and you should apologize on national television right now.

Not only did Knowles not apologize, he doubled down: “She is mentally ill. She has autism, she has obsessive-compulsive disorder, she has selective mutism, she had depression. Her mother wrote about this in a book. You can inveigh all you want but unfortunately, you don’t have any acts on your side.”

Unfortunately, Knowles does not have Fox News on his side. The Daily Beast later reported, “A Fox News spokesperson provided the following statement to The Daily Beast on Knowles' remarks: 'The comment made by Michael Knowles who was a guest on The Story tonight was disgraceful - we apologize to Greta Thunberg and to our viewers.'”

But as The Daily Beast’s Justin Baragona also noted, “conservatives on television and social media mocked and belittled” Thunberg throughout the day.

So, as over-the-top despicable as Knowles’ remarks were, one can understand why he thought they were perfectly acceptable on Fox. It’s also worth pointing out that host Harris Faulkner said nothing to indicate her disapproval of Knowles' comments.

Watch it below, from the September 23, 2019 The Story, via Media Matters.