The emotional exchange between Tim Walz and his teenage son, Gus, has sparked a wave of admiration and support, but it has at the same time provoked ugly bullying attacks on the internet.
The emotional exchange between Tim Walz and his teenage son, Gus, has sparked a wave of admiration and support, but it has at the same time provoked ugly bullying attacks on the internet.
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An emotional exchange between Tim Walz and his 17-year-old son, Gus, has sparked a flood of admiration and approval, but it has also led to nasty bullying attacks online.
Gus Walz, who has a nonverbal learning disorder, along with 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 candidate for vice president, gave his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention.
The Minnesota governor was recounting the difficult fertility treatment he and his wife, Gwen, went through to have their daughter, Hope.
Walz followed up by expressing his love for his loved ones from the stage, stating, "Hope, Gus, and Gwen, you mean everything to me. And I love you."
Gus Walz rose from his seat, with tears streaming down his cheeks, pointed his finger and said, “I love you, Dad.”
The heartwarming exchange between father and son, captured live by television cameras, quickly went viral and has largely been received adoringly on the internet and in the media.
Fox News posted a video of the touching moment on its TikTok account, stating "Gus Walz steals the spotlight during dad's acceptance speech." The comments were mostly positive.
“I hope to inspire my children 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 dedicated his life to service and has clearly succeeded in being an excellent, supportive, and loving father every step of the way, ” he wrote. “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, praised the love between Walz and his children.
More: Who is Gus Walz and what is a non-verbal learning disorder?
“You know you’ve done well 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 describe our next Vice President. ”
Actress Mia Farrow added: “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 stole my heart. ”
Critics dismiss Gus Walz as a 'puffy beta male'
But the show of affection triggered a wave of snarky and cruel comments from online trolls, primarily supporters of MAGA, of former president Donald Trump, who is running against Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Walz in November.
Conservative columnist and provocateur Ann Coulter mocked the teenager’s tears. “Talk about weird, ” she posted on X. The message has since been deleted.
Mike Crispi, a Trump supporter and content creator 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 shot at the teenager: “Get that kid a tampon already,” he said, in an apparent reference to a Minnesota law that Walz signed as governor requiring schools to offer free menstrual products to students.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel mentioned that Jay Weber, a conservative Milwaukee radio host, made a post on X criticizing the Walz family, now removed.
"If the Walzs represent today's American man,
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