The emotional exchange between Tim Walz and his teenage son, Gus, has sparked a wave of admiration and support, but it has also provoked ugly bullying attacks on the internet.
The emotional exchange between Tim Walz and his teenage son, Gus, has sparked a wave of admiration and support, but it has also provoked ugly bullying attacks on the internet.
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An heartfelt moment between Tim Walz and his teenage son, Gus, has triggered a flood of admiration and approval, but it has at the same time provoked nasty bullying attacks on the internet.
Gus Walz, who has a nonverbal learning disability, as well as 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 Minnesota governor was recounting the difficult fertility treatment he and his wife, Gwen, underwent to have their daughter, Hope.
Walz continued by declaring his love for his loved ones from the stage, saying, "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 exclaimed, “I love you, Dad.”
The heartwarming exchange between father and son, captured on live TV by TV cameras, quickly went viral and was mostly received adoringly on the internet and in the media.
Fox News posted a clip of the viral 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 children so much that when they see me speak 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 loving father throughout his life, ” he wrote. “We should all be so fortunate 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 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 describe our future 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, 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 snarky and cruel comments from internet trolls, many of them supporters of MAGA, of former President Donald Trump, who faces Democratic presidential candidate 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 message has since been deleted.
Mike Crispi, a Trump backer and content creator from New Jersey, criticized Walz’s “stupid crying son” on X and added, “Congratulations on raising your kid to be a puffy beta male. Congrats.”
Alec Lace, a Trump follower who runs a show about fatherhood, took his own shot at the teenager: “Get that kid a tampon already,” he wrote, in an apparent jab to a Minnesota law that Walz passed as governor requiring educational institutions to provide free menstrual products to students.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Jay Weber, a conservative Milwaukee radio host, posted a message on X criticizing the Walz family, now removed.
"If the Walzs represent today's American man,
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