Fox News bans Michael Knowles over comments on Greta Thunberg

Michael Knowles runs a popular podcast for the Daily Wire. He’s also a regular guest on Fox News — well, he was until earlier this week.

Fox News announced Tuesday that Knowles would no longer be appearing on-air in a decision first reported by the Hollywood Reporter and later confirmed by The Washington Examiner. The move came after a segment in which Knowles referred to climate activist Greta Thunberg as a “mentally ill Swedish child.”

“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,” Fox said in a statement.

Exploiting a child

The comments in question began with Knowles criticizing the suggestion that a shift away from consuming meat would be beneficial to the environment. He went on to argue that the prominence of someone like Thunberg undercuts the climate change movement’s credibility.

“If it were about science,” he said, “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.”

That remark drew a caustic response from fellow guest Chris Hahn, a former aid to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who called Knowles “despicable” and demanded an apology.

“How dare you?” Hahn asked. “You’re a grown man and you’re attacking a child — shame on you.”

“I’m not,” Knowles replied. “I’m attacking the left for exploiting a mentally ill child.”

Take a look at the fiery exchange:

Hahn goes off

Hahn then began to yell, calling Knowles “skinny boy” and calling for the Daily Wire podcaster to “have some couth.”

But Knowles refused to back down, noting that Thunberg has been diagnosed with multiple mental disorders before host Harris Faulkner opted to “switch gears.” But for Hahn, the animosity continued off-camera.

“What Mike Knowles said last night should not be tolerated,” Hahn later told The Washington Examiner. “It’s unfortunate that the debate in this country has sunk to a level where some people think it’s OK to denigrate children.”

Hahn went on: “We saw this during the Parkland student protests and we’re seeing it today with the attacks on Greta. Keep in mind that ad-hominem attacks are only used when the attacker doesn’t have a legitimate point to make in response to an issue. This needs to stop. “