Featured Image Credit: Instagram/@schwarzenegger
Topics: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Climate Change, Celebrity
Gregory Robinson
Topics: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Climate Change, Celebrity
Arnold Schwarzenegger has defended himself online after people tried to accuse him of using a private jet en route to a climate change summit.
In recent months, social media has been quick to call out celebrities - including Kylie Jenner and Elon Musk - for using private jets amid the climate crisis. However, some people totally got it very wrong on this occasion.
The drama began on Monday (May 14) when the Kindergarten Cop star, 75, shared a picture of himself on board a flight to Vienna for his annual Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative summit.
The climate activist captioned the post: “En route to @ArnoldSCI for this year’s summit in Vienna.”
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Schwarzenegger looked very comfortable in what appeared to be a first class seat however, some Twitter users assumed the bodybuilder was actually on a private jet.
The post was quickly ridiculed by climate change deniers, with one person saying: “There is no climate emergency and all the private jets prove they all know it."
Well, Schwarzenegger schooled the Twitter user in the most respectful way.
“This is a commercial flight – I truly hope you don’t go around making things up to be angry all the time. I don’t want to be that miserable,” he responded.
Another climate change denier tweeted: “How much do you get paid to promote the hoax?” to which the FUBAR actor said in response: "Please don’t make things up to be angry about. Just be logical.
“If anyone is paying people off to change how they talk about pollution, who has more money than oil companies? Are you acting anti-establishment while you do the bidding of a bunch of rich fossil fuel execs?”
As the trolls kept criticising the former California governor for flying on a private jet – which he wasn’t – he posted some hard truths to his detractors.
“Once again. This is a Lufthansa commercial flight,” he tweeted back.
“Before you spend all day on Twitter looking for fake reasons to be mad, spend a few minutes looking in the mirror and figuring out the real reason you’re upset. Work on it. Do the reps. Be uncomfortable. One day you’ll thank me.”
Meanwhile, Schwarzenegger’s fans came to his defence and thankfully he considers the back-and-forth with the climate change deniers a ‘learning’ experience.
“What kind of person gets into a fight with Arnold Schwarzenegger on Twitter? What a strange thing to do. Just log out and read a book or go for a walk or pet a dog. Seriously!” a fan tweeted.
The Hollywood icon replied: “I don’t think of these as fights, I think of them as learning experiences. But you’re right. Most of these people are searching for something they won’t find here.
"A book, a walk, a workout, or talking with family would benefit them more. While they’re here, I’ll talk to them.”
The European non-governmental organisation (NGO), Transport & Environment (T&E) reports that private jets are five to 14 times more polluting than commercial flights per passenger.
Private flights are therefore considered to be less efficient and the personal carbon footprint of passengers who choose to travel private is much higher.