An heartfelt moment between Tim Walz and his 17-year-old son, Gus, has sparked a flood of admiration and support, but it has at the same time provoked ugly bullying attacks online.
An heartfelt moment between Tim Walz and his 17-year-old son, Gus, has sparked a flood of admiration and support, but it has at the same time provoked ugly bullying attacks online.
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The heartfelt moment between Tim Walz and his teenage son, Gus, has triggered a wave of praise and support, but it has at the same time provoked ugly incidents of bullying on the internet.
Gus Walz, who suffers from a nonverbal learning disability, as well as 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 governor of Minnesota, was sharing the challenging fertility journey he and his wife, Gwen, went through to have their daughter, Hope.
Walz followed up 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 index finger and exclaimed, “I love you, Dad.”
The heartwarming exchange between father and son, captured on live TV 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 account, writing "Gus Walz steals the spotlight during dad's acceptance speech." The comments were overwhelmingly positive.
“I hope to inspire my kids so much that when they see me speak about the dreams and passion I have 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 devoted 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 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 love 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 wrote on X. “'That’s my dad.' No three other words better capture our future vice president. ”
Actress Mia Farrow added: “Gosh! When young Gus Walz, cherished 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 provoked a wave of sarcastic and cruel comments from internet trolls, many of them MAGA supporters of former president Donald Trump, who is running against Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Walz in November.
Conservative columnist and provocative commentator Ann Coulter mocked the teenager’s tears. “Talk about weird, ” she posted on X. The post has since been deleted.
Mike Crispi, a Trump supporter and content creator from New Jersey, mocked 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 runs a podcast about fatherhood, took his own shot at the teenager: “Get that kid a tampon already,” he said, in an apparent reference to a Minnesota state law that Walz passed as governor requiring schools to offer free menstrual products to students.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel mentioned 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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