An emotional 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 emotional 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.
Blog Article
An heartfelt moment between Tim Walz and his 17-year-old son, Gus, has triggered a flood of admiration and approval, but it has at the same time led to ugly bullying attacks on the internet.
Gus Walz, who suffers from a nonverbal learning disability, along with anxiety and 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 acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention.
The governor of Minnesota, was sharing the challenging fertility journey he and his wife, Gwen, went through to have their daughter, Hope.
Walz continued by expressing his love for his family from the stage, saying, "Hope, Gus, and Gwen, you are my entire world. And I love you."
Gus Walz rose from his seat, with teardrops running down his cheeks, pointed his finger and exclaimed, “I love you, Dad.”
The heartwarming exchange between father and son, captured live by TV cameras, quickly spread online and was mostly received positively on the web and across media outlets.
Fox News posted a video of the touching moment on its TikTok page, writing "Gus Walz steals the show during dad's acceptance speech." The comments were overwhelmingly positive.
“I hope to inspire my kids so much that when they see me give a speech about the dreams and passion I hold for my country, they cry with emotion like Gus Walz did,” posted Chasten Buttigieg, husband of Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, on X.
“@Tim_Walz has devoted his life to service and has clearly excelled in being an outstanding, supportive, and loving father every step of the way, ” he stated. “We should all be so lucky to know a love like that.”
U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who spoke before Walz on Wednesday night, commended the love between Walz and his children.
More: Who is Gus Walz and what is a non-verbal learning disorder?
“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 future vice president. ”
Actress Mia Farrow added: “Gosh! When sweet Gus Walz, adorable son of Gwen and Tim Walz, his face covered in tears of pride, exclaimed 'That’s my dad!' he won my heart. ”
Critics dismiss Gus Walz as a 'puffy beta male'
But the display of affection triggered 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 candidate Kamala Harris and Walz in November.
Conservative columnist and provocative commentator Ann Coulter mocked the teenager’s tears. “Now that's weird, ” she posted 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 added, “Congratulations on raising your kid to be a blubbering beta male. Congrats.”
Alec Lace, a Trump follower 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 law that Walz signed as governor requiring educational institutions to provide complimentary menstrual products to students.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Jay Weber, a conservative radio host in Milwaukee, posted a message on X criticizing the Walz family. now deleted.
"If the Walz(sic) represent today's American man,
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