An emotional moment between Tim Walz and his 17-year-old son, Gus, has sparked a flood of praise and support, but it has at the same time led to ugly bullying attacks online.
An emotional moment between Tim Walz and his 17-year-old son, Gus, has sparked a flood of praise and support, but it has at the same time led to ugly bullying attacks online.
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The heartfelt exchange between Tim Walz and his teenage son, Gus, has triggered a flood of admiration and approval, but it has at the same time led to ugly incidents of bullying online.
Gus Walz, who has a nonverbal learning disorder, as well as anxiety and ADHD, watched excitedly from the front seat of Chicago’s United Center and cried 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 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 moment between father and son, captured on live TV by TV cameras, quickly went viral and has largely been received positively on the web and in the media.
Fox News shared a video of the viral 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 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 caring 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 other 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 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 educational institutions to offer free menstrual products to students.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Jay Weber, a conservative radio host in Milwaukee, made a post on X criticizing the Walz family. now deleted.
"If the Walz(sic) represent today's American man,
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