The internet fell in love with vice presidential candidate Tim Walz’s son Gus on the third night of the Democratic National Convention after the neurodivergent 17-year-old started tearing up seeing his father on stage.
OMG I missed Walz's son Gus crying and saying "that's my dad!" when his dad shouted him out. What a moment. pic.twitter.com/bFV1kFkeHv
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 22, 2024
But not everybody seemed to be on board the love train. Instead, the so-called “party of family values” decided to take potshots at the emotional high schooler.
“Talk about weird …” posted conservative media pundit Ann Coulter, sharing an article about Gus.
“Walz’ kid is acting just like his dad! BIZARRE!” wrote X user ProudArmyBrat.
Failed MAGA congressional candidates also got in on the action, outright mocking a kid with a learning disability.
“Tim Walz stupid crying son isn’t the flex the left thinks it is,” Mike Crispi, chairman of the America First Republicans of New Jersey, wrote in a since-deleted post on X. “You raised your kid to be a puffy beta male. Congrats.”
Conservatives also spent the week mocking Vice President Kamala Harris’s stepdaughter, Ella Emhoff, for her outfit the first night of the convention, which consisted of a camouflage Harris-Walz merch hat and a sleeveless, caped gown that showed off her tattoos. And on Thursday, Donald Trump ally and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell got into (and badly lost) an argument with 12-year-old content creator Knowa De Brasco.
Meanwhile, MAGA Republicans are embracing something that is objectively weird: Trumpy Trout, an orange, fish-head version of the former president with a matching toupee.
“I am the hugely, bigliest fish in the pond,” the open-lipped animatronic says in a very real advertisement reportedly airing on Newsmax.
They're not beating the weirdness allegations (believe it or not, this is a real ad running on Newsmax) pic.twitter.com/s7TlFDm1Pp
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 22, 2024