The emotional moment between Tim Walz and his teenage son, Gus, has triggered a wave of admiration and approval, but it has also provoked ugly incidents of bullying on the internet.
The emotional moment between Tim Walz and his teenage son, Gus, has triggered a wave of admiration and approval, but it has also provoked ugly incidents of bullying on the internet.
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The heartfelt moment between Tim Walz and his 17-year-old son, Gus, has triggered a flood of praise and support, but it has also provoked 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 speech of acceptance at the Democratic National Convention.
The governor of Minnesota, was sharing the difficult fertility treatment he and his wife, Gwen, underwent to conceive 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 shared a clip of the viral moment on its TikTok page, writing "Gus Walz steals the show 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 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 excelled in being an excellent, supportive, and caring father throughout his life, ” 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 bond 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 sweet Gus Walz, cherished son of Gwen and Tim Walz, his face streaming with tears of pride, shouted 'That’s my dad!' he won my heart. ”
Critics ridicule Gus Walz as a 'puffy beta male'
But the show of affection triggered a series of sarcastic and nasty comments from internet trolls, primarily 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 message 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, “You raised your son to be a blubbering beta male. Congrats.”
Alec Lace, a Trump supporter who runs a podcast about fatherhood, took his own swipe at the teenager: “Get that kid a tampon already,” he wrote, in an apparent jab 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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