An emotional moment between Tim Walz and his 17-year-old son, Gus, has triggered a wave of admiration and approval, but it has also provoked ugly incidents of bullying on the internet.
An emotional moment between Tim Walz and his 17-year-old son, Gus, has triggered a wave of admiration and approval, but it has also provoked ugly incidents of bullying on the internet.
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An emotional moment between Tim Walz and his 17-year-old son, Gus, has sparked a wave of praise and support, but it has also led to nasty incidents of bullying on the internet.
Gus Walz, who suffers from a nonverbal learning disability, along with anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), looked on eagerly from the front seat of Chicago’s United Center and cried openly on Wednesday night as his father, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, delivered his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention.
The Minnesota governor was sharing the challenging fertility journey he and his wife, Gwen, went through to conceive their daughter, Hope.
Walz followed up by expressing his love for his loved ones from the stage, stating, "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 spread online and was mostly received adoringly on the internet and across media outlets.
Fox News shared a clip of the touching moment on its TikTok account, 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 give a speech 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 succeeded in being an excellent, 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 addressed the audience 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 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 follower who hosts a show about fatherhood, took his own swipe at the teenager: “Give that kid a tampon already,” he wrote, in an apparent reference to a Minnesota law that Walz signed as governor requiring schools to offer 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 removed.
"If the Walz(sic) represent today's American man,
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