The emotional moment between Tim Walz and his teenage son, Gus, has triggered a wave of admiration and approval, but it has also provoked nasty incidents of bullying on the internet.
The emotional moment between Tim Walz and his teenage son, Gus, has triggered a flood of admiration and support, but it has also led to ugly incidents of bullying online.
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 sobbed 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, underwent to conceive their daughter, Hope.
Walz followed up by declaring 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 jumped up from his seat, with tears running down his cheeks, pointed his index finger and exclaimed, “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 internet and in the media.
Fox News posted a video of the viral moment on its TikTok account, stating "Gus Walz steals the show during dad's acceptance speech." The comments were overwhelmingly positive.
“I hope to inspire my children so much that when they see me speak about the dreams and passion I have for my country, they cry with emotion like Gus Walz did,” posted Chasten Buttigieg, husband of Transportation Secretary 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 lucky to know a love like that.”
U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who addressed the audience before Walz on Wednesday night, praised the bond between Walz and his children.
More: Who is Gus Walz and what does having a non-verbal learning disorder mean?
“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 wrote on X. “'That’s my dad.' No three other words better describe our future vice president. ”
Actress Mia Farrow added: “Gosh! When sweet Gus Walz, adorable son of Gwen and Tim Walz, his face covered in tears of pride, shouted 'That’s my dad!' he stole my heart. ”
Critics dismiss Gus Walz as a 'puffy beta male'
But the display of affection triggered a series of snarky and cruel comments from internet trolls, primarily MAGA supporters of former president Donald Trump, who faces 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 content creator from New Jersey, mocked Walz’s “crybaby son” on X and added, “You raised your son to be a puffy beta male. Congrats.”
Alec Lace, a Trump supporter who runs a show about fatherhood, took his own shot at the teenager: “Give that kid a tampon already,” he wrote, in an apparent jab to a Minnesota state 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 removed.
"If the Walzs represent today's American man,
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