Naomi Seibt

Naomi Seibt is a German YouTube personality who was contracted by The Heartland Institute in late 2019. Dubbed the "Anti-Greta" by Heartland, Seibt was hired in attempts to create a counterweight to climate activist Greta Thunburg.

News and Controversies

Neo-Nazi Ties and Anti-Semitic Statements

Naomi Sebit was photographed attending the "1,000 White Crosses" march in Münster, Germany in 2018. The March was organized by anti-abortion groups, and at least one contingency of participants included well-known German Neo-Nazi Robert Malcoci, who was pictured next to Sebit.

A video on Twitter of Jamie Corey of the watchdog group Documented (and former employee of CMD / SourceWatch) shows Seibt denying attendance at any Neo-Nazi events.

The Guardian reported on antisemitic comments made by Seibt in an online video that was published shortly after a deadly Synagogue shooting in Halle, Germany on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur:

   In a YouTube discussion last year that was highlighted in a report by the German broadcaster ZDF, Seibt discussed an attack on a synagogue in Halle that killed two people who were outside the temple, and said Jews were considered to be “at the top” of groups who were seen as being oppressed. “Ordinary Germans”, she said, were “at the bottom”. Muslims, she added, were somewhere in between.
   
   The remarks were part of a video discussion that appears to have been deleted. They were seen by some experts as saying that Germans had less pity for “ordinary German” victims of crime than for Jews and Muslims. A portion of the discussion was included in a report by ZDF and is still available online. 

Praise for White Nationalists

On the morning of a CPAC panel event featuring Naomi Seibt and The Heartland Institute's James M. Taylor, The Guardian published comments by Seibt praising Canadian White Nationalist Stefan Molyneux.

At the CPAC event, Seibt re-asserted her admiration for Molyneux in response to questions from a Business Insider reporter:

   During a Q&A session, Insider read Molyneux's following quote to Seibt: "I've always been skeptical of the ideas of white nationalism, of identitarianism and white identity. However, I am an empiricist, and I could not help but notice that I could have peaceful, free, easy, civilized, and safe discussions in what is essentially an all-white country."
   
   Insider asked Seibt if she was aware of Molyneux's statement and, if so, still considered herself a fan of his.
   
   "I am still a fan of Molyneux's, absolutely," Seibt replied.
   
   Seibt added: "I know that the statement taken out of context sounds incredibly racist to many people. To me, it does not because he is not devaluing other races, not at all. He's just describing his experience in Western countries. 

In response to a question from Jamie Corey of Documented, filmed at CPAC 2020, regarding support for Molyneux, Seibt dismissed association with white nationalism, stating,

   "I don't care if you're a Jew, or a Muslim, or 100% German."

Related SourceWatch resources

• Heartland Institute

External resources

• Naomi Seibt, DeSmog Denier Database, 2020
• Climate Denier Roundup, posted on Daily Kos: New ‘Anti-Greta’ Naomi Seibt Already Denying Her Role As Funding Pawn By Heartland Institute and Red, Green and Blue: Climate change denial: Heartland pushes their alt-right Greta Thunberg clone, February 11, 2020
• Sharon Kelly, Exposé Shows Rise of Heartland Institute’s Climate Denial Efforts Overseas, Using Dark Money and a YouTuber, DeSmog, February 20, 2020
• Karl Bode, Washington Post Amplifies Climate Change Denialism From Noted Propaganda Factory, VICE News, February 24, 2020
• Harry Cockburn, Anti-Greta: Far-right groups trying to turn teenager into climate change-denying version of Greta Thunberg, The Independent (UK), February 24, 2020
• David Smith, 'Anti-Greta' teen activist to speak at biggest US conservatives conference, The Guardian US, February 25, 2020
• Jennifer A Dlouhy, Anti-Greta Blasts ‘Climate Alarmism’ to Conservative Gathering, Bloomberg Green, February 28, 2020
• Annie Karni, At CPAC, It’s Now an All-Trump Show, New York Times, February 28, 2020
• Juliet Eilperin and Desmond Butler, Anti-climate activist praises alt-right commentator at CPAC, Washington Post, February 29, 2020
• Liz Little, Who is Naomi Seibt? German climate change denier and Greta Thunberg’s rival, The Sun US, February 29, 2020
• Olivia Lambert, Meet the 'anti-Greta' teen who calls herself a 'climate realist', Yahoo! News, Australia, March 2, 2020
• Climate Denier Roundup, posted on Daily Kos: Heartland’s Anti-Greta Might Be an Anti-Semite, And That’s Not Even The Grossest Greta News and Red, Green and Blue: Heartland’s climate-denier anti-Greta is also an anti-semite, March 3, 2020
• Alexander C. Kaufman, Pro-Trump Climate Denial Group Lays Off Staff Amid Financial Woes, Ex-Employees Say, HuffPost, March 7, 2020
• Connor Gibson, "Anti-Greta" Naomi Seibt Marched with Neo-Nazis and Promotes White Nationalists, Greenpeace USA, March 10, 2020
• Alice Echtermann, Wanted: Influencer, Young, Right-wing, Correctiv, March 10, 2020
• Giulio Corsi, No Evidence ‘Global Warming’ Was Rebranded as ‘Climate Change’, Snopes / The Conversation, March 12, 2020
• Yair Oded, The ‘anti-Greta’ Naomi Seibt uses influencer marketing strategy to promote her climate sceptic disinformation, Screenshot Magazine, March 13, 2020
• Climate Denier Roundup, posted on Daily Kos: Heartland Cleans House After Hiring Girl Who Marches With Neo-Nazis, While Doubling Down on Climate and on Red, Green, and Blue: Nazis at Heartland? But that’s NOT why they fired half the staff, March 16, 2020
• Rian Patel, The Anti-Greta: Naomi Seibt, Impact Magazine, University of Nottingham, March 27, 2020
• Reuters Fact Check Team, Fact check: Climate change skeptic Naomi Seibt was not banned from social media for her views and she is appealing a regulator’s order to remove two videos, Reuters, May 26, 2020