An heartfelt exchange between Tim Walz and his teenage son, Gus, has sparked a wave of admiration and support, but it has also provoked ugly incidents of bullying on the internet.
An heartfelt exchange between Tim Walz and his teenage son, Gus, has sparked a wave of admiration and support, but it has also provoked ugly incidents of bullying on the internet.
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The heartfelt exchange between Tim Walz and his 17-year-old son, Gus, has sparked a wave of admiration and approval, but it has also provoked nasty bullying attacks on the internet.
Gus Walz, who suffers from a nonverbal learning disability, as well as anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), watched excitedly from the front row of Chicago’s United Center and sobbed openly on Wednesday night as his father, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, delivered his speech of acceptance at the Democratic National Convention.
The governor of Minnesota, was sharing the challenging fertility journey he and his wife, Gwen, underwent to conceive their daughter, Hope.
Walz continued by declaring his love for his loved ones from the stage, saying, "Hope, Gus, and Gwen, you are my entire world. And I love you."
Gus Walz jumped up from his seat, with tears running down his cheeks, pointed his index finger and said, “I love you, Dad.”
The touching exchange between father and son, captured on live TV by television cameras, quickly went viral and was mostly received positively on the internet and in the media.
Fox News posted a clip of the touching moment on its TikTok page, writing "Gus Walz steals the spotlight during dad's acceptance speech." The comments were mostly positive.
“I hope to inspire my kids so much that when they see me speak about the dreams and passion I hold for my country, they are moved to tears like Gus Walz did,” posted Chasten Buttigieg, husband of Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, on X.
“@Tim_Walz has dedicated his life to service and has clearly excelled in being an outstanding, supportive, and loving father throughout his life, ” he wrote. “We should all be so fortunate to know a love like that.”
U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who addressed the audience before Walz on Wednesday night, praised the bond between Walz and his children.
More: Who is Gus Walz and what does having a non-verbal learning disorder mean?
“You know you’ve succeeded as a parent when your kids are as proud of you as Gus and Hope are of Tim Walz,” she posted on X. “'That’s my dad.' No three words better capture our next Vice President. ”
Actress Mia Farrow also commented: “Gosh! When young Gus Walz, cherished son of Gwen and Tim Walz, his face streaming with tears of pride, exclaimed 'That’s my dad!' he won my heart. ”
Critics ridicule Gus Walz as a 'puffy beta male'
But the show of affection provoked a wave of sarcastic and nasty comments from online trolls, many of them supporters of MAGA, of former President Donald Trump, who is running against Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Walz in November.
Right-wing columnist and provocateur Ann Coulter mocked the teenager’s tears. “Now that's weird, ” she wrote on X. The post has since been deleted.
Mike Crispi, a Trump supporter and podcaster from New Jersey, criticized Walz’s “stupid crying son” on X and wrote, “Congratulations on raising your kid to be a blubbering beta male. Congrats.”
Alec Lace, a Trump supporter who hosts a show about fatherhood, took his own shot at the teenager: “Give that kid a tampon already,” he wrote, in an apparent jab to a Minnesota state law that Walz signed as governor requiring educational institutions to offer free menstrual products to students.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Jay Weber, a conservative radio host in Milwaukee, made a post on X criticizing the Walz family, now removed.
"If the Walzs represent today's American man,
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