The emotional moment between Tim Walz and his 17-year-old son, Gus, has triggered a flood of admiration and support, but it has also provoked ugly incidents of bullying on the internet.
The emotional moment between Tim Walz and his 17-year-old son, Gus, has triggered a flood of admiration and support, 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 at the same time provoked nasty bullying attacks on the internet.
Gus Walz, who has a nonverbal learning disorder, as well as 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, gave 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 followed up 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 teardrops running 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 spread online and was mostly received adoringly on the web and across media outlets.
Fox News shared a video of the touching moment on its TikTok page, stating "Gus Walz steals the spotlight during dad's acceptance speech." The comments were overwhelmingly positive.
“I hope to inspire my children so much that when they see me give a speech about the dreams and passion I have for my country, they cry with emotion like Gus Walz did,” wrote Chasten Buttigieg, husband of Transportation Secretary on X.
“@Tim_Walz has devoted his life to service and has clearly excelled in being an excellent, 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 spoke before Walz on Wednesday night, commended the bond 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 display of affection triggered a series of snarky and cruel comments from internet 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 provocative commentator 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, “You raised your kid to be a blubbering beta male. Congrats.”
Alec Lace, a Trump supporter who runs a show about fatherhood, took his own swipe 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 schools to offer complimentary menstrual products to students.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Jay Weber, a conservative Milwaukee radio host, posted a message on X criticizing the Walz family. now deleted.
"If the Walzs represent today's American man,
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