A tearful, unscripted moment between Tim Walz and his 17-year-old son, Gus, has unleashed a flood of praise and admiration – but also prompted ugly online bullying.

Gus Walz, who has a nonverbal learning disorder as well as anxiety and ADHD, watched excitedly from the front row of Chicago’s United Center and sobbed openly Wednesday night as his father, the Democratic nominee for vice president, delivered his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention.

Conservative columnist and right-wing provocateur Ann Coulter mocked the teenager’s tears. “Talk about weird,” she wrote on X. The message has since been deleted.

Mike Crispi, a Trump supporter and podcaster from New Jersey, mocked Walz’s “stupid crying son” on X and added, “You raised your kid to be a puffy beta male. Congrats.”

Alec Lace, a Trump supporter who hosts a podcast about fatherhood, took his own swipe at the teenager: “Get that kid a tampon already,” he wrote, an apparent reference to a Minnesota state law that Walz signed as governor in that required schools to provide free menstrual supplies to students.

  • Funderpants @lemmy.ca
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    My god the media is rubbish, “Trump came under fire in 2015 after he appeared to mock a New York Times reporter with a disability”. Like, are you kidding me? Are you fucking kidding me? Appeared my ass, he did mock a man with a disability, it isn’t a debate, or a perception, or the appearance, he did that shit.

    • GregorGizeh@lemmy.zip
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      Pretty sure media writes that way to be lawsuit proof. Everything is allegedly, supposedly, reportedly, according to sources, and so forth. Only things a court of law has confirmed are safe to report as facts.

      Though I of course agree it is ridiculous as you suggest. There is video evidence of trump doing it, they might as well call it as it is. Attacking a young neurodivergent man for loving his dad is also despicable.

      • Optional@lemmy.world
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        No. They are purely both-sidesing. They’d get mroe clicks and wins in a lawsuit that 100Million-under Trump and they don’t care. They would never disparage trump directly without also disparaging whoever his opponent is.

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        That Infowars fuckstick Alex Jones allegedly lost a lawsuit that he allegedly called Sandy Hook victims crisis actors and also allegedly claimed there were no dead kids which allegedly lead to the harassment of the grieving parents by his alleged followers. Allegedly he still has most of not all his assets and is allegedly going to flee the country, allegedly.

        Am I doing this right?

      • Funderpants @lemmy.ca
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        Yea, I know this, just venting because it just seems that benefit of the doubt is reserved almost exclusively for Trump and fascists.

        • TheFriar@lemm.ee
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          I mean, that’s not true. Maybe there is some SLAPP fear engaged when dealing with hyper litigious fascists, but it’s a standard practice in media. Like day one journalism school stuff. It’s just common practice no matter who they’re talking to. It’s not cover for the right. Those people just tend to do more dogwhistling and outright hatred that we all know means exactly what it means, but it’s still cloaked in at least some sort of deniability. He didn’t come out and call the reporter retarded. They can characterize that however they like. But it’s still not so cut and dry—even though we all know it’s cut and dry—when it comes to reporting on it.

  • just_another_person@lemmy.world
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    Fuck anyone who even says anything about this kid.

    I WISH my teenage kid loved me like that 🤣 These internet bitches are just jealous.

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    The summary doesn’t even mention that the poor kid has a nonverbal learning disability, anxiety, and ADHD, and these clowns are mocking him.

        • Monument@lemmy.sdf.org
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          Correct. I was not diagnosed 10 years ago.

          I can’t believe that the sudden rise in diagnoses’ is being seen as anything other than the first generation of adults that take mental health seriously finally reached a point in life where they had health insurance and disposable income to focus on their own mental health.

          I have had ADHD all my life. When my mom died, I found letters in her things from my school counselor advising I be tested. I found letters from pissed off family members telling her to get me tested.
          She didn’t do any of that. But I do remember the time she told me she never got my sister tested for dyslexia because she knew “none of [her] babies were retarded.”

          • Jerkface (any/all)@lemmy.ca
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            My dad would rather think he had a lazy, stupid, worthless kid than one struggling with mental illness, because somehow that would have been a greater reflection on him than my innate lazy, etc nature would.

        • IggyTheSmidge@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          Parents would find their baby child had been replaced by odd beings who were almost but not quite human.

          However strange appearances aside it was their behaviour that marked them out - changelings were said to be either extremely badly behaved - constantly crying and prone to violence, or at the other end of the spectrum strangely docile, often mute and seemingly unable to comprehend anything about the human world they had been left in.

          https://www.hypnogoria.com/folklore_changelings.html

          Yep, totally a brand new thing that hasn’t appeared throughout human history.

      • Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works
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        No he is verbal, he said “that’s my dad!” the same way dads say “that’s my boy!”

        I think one of us should look up the labels of his disabilities and what they mean, but I’ve so far been too lazy.

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      It shouldn’t matter whether he is LD. No one should be bullied.

      Research shows that bullying behavior often stems from a combination of factors such as a desire for social dominance, a lack of empathy, or modeling of aggressive behaviors at home, said Kristen Eccleston, a former special education teacher and advocate for children with social-emotional needs.

      • Empricorn@feddit.nl
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        It absolutely matters. It’s like the difference between hitting someone who’s weaker than you, and hitting someone in a wheelchair. When you’re bullying, you’re punching down. When your victim is an even more vulnerable member of society (disabled, poor, elderly, neurodivergent, etc), you’re punching way down and are a piece of shit.

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          you’re punching way down and are a piece of shit.

          Bullying still makes you a piece of shit even if the victim isn’t disabled, though.

          The article mentioned a conservative talk-show host who called Gus a “blubbering bitch boy” and then retracted the statement when he found out the kid has a disability. No, either way, that is not okay!

          • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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            Bullying makes you a piece of shit even if the victim isn’t disabled.

            I don’t think anyone is suggesting otherwise. But like everything in reality, it’s not black and white. If you can’t see how it’s worse when the person has disabilities, then I don’t know what to tell you.

            I suspect you understand it just fine though.

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              I do understand, and I think if the only reason a person isn’t bullying someone is because that person is differently abled, that doesn’t make the person who refrained only because the potential victim is differently abled a genuinely decent person, just that they know they are less likely to get away without consequences, if anyone else finds out.

          • Empricorn@feddit.nl
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            Yeah, we’re on the same page: bullying is bad no matter what. But surely you agree it’s worse to bully someone with a disability…?

      • bradinutah@thelemmy.club
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        Too bad some people just don’t know about or choose to not follow the Golden Rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

        • jumjummy@lemmy.world
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          That’s because they’re “Christians” and nowhere in the Bible does it say to be kind to others, or to have empathy, or to respect each other… /s

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            Love thy neighbor

            Edit: I stopped reading before the /s. My bad. This one’s on me

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              I almost didn’t add that /s at the end figuring “surely nobody would think I’m serious”. Apparently my comment wasn’t dripping with enough sarcasm!

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                Case of not seeing the wit for the trees. In the topsy-turvy landscape of the last 8 years or so, the problem is that “dripping with” part. The weirdos do always go for the double-down after all, so adding more starts risking confusion with that tactic of theirs.

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          I think many people in fact actively get a high from feeling powerful, and therefore doing the exact opposite of what they want done to them, and then are usually the people to whine the loudest when anything of the sort happens to them.

          For example Trump’s speeches are like 85% insulting people, whining about those critical about him, etc. Huge middle school bully energy.

          • Maeve@kbin.earth
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            Yes and there was recently a speech he gave whining about how he was treated.

            • frunch@lemmy.world
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              Recently? I can’t recall a speech he’s given since he started running for president where he didn’t whine about perceived mistreatment

        • ReallyActuallyFrankenstein@lemmynsfw.com
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          When you’re a narcissist, “others” is nonsensical, because the only person worthy of agency and empathy is you. That’s why the golden rule doesn’t work - it’s like if they were colorblind, they lack the capacity to even understand it.

      • Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works
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        You emphasized lack of empathy, but I think we also need to focus on “a desire for social dominance” because it describes exactly what these fascists have planned for America.

        • Maeve@kbin.earth
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          Agreed. It’s interesting to me that normal, healthy people just go about their business, and those not so healthy want to impose their sickness on the rest of us. It’s contagious, for the weaker among us, too, apparently.

    • superglue@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      And on top of that it shouldn’t even matter. I hope that one day my kids admire and love me the same way Gus showed.

    • phoneymouse@lemmy.world
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      It shouldn’t even matter. The kid should be allowed to express his emotions without being mocked for it. Even if he didn’t have any disability, he behaved perfectly fine. Most folks actually found it touching. While it is cruel to mock someone with a disability, I also don’t want the disability to become a way for the media to “justify” his way of expressing himself. There is no need to justify it at all.

  • Optional@lemmy.world
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    Excellent. The press have a story they can jump up and down on for a day or two and leave Harris alone.

    Excellent work, Gus. You did good a hundred different ways, sir.

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    It’s odd to place the emphasis on your crying male child and then be appalled there is an emphasis on your crying male child.

    • 4lan@lemmy.world
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      The kid stood up and owned his fierce emotions for his family. He displayed it instead of hiding it.

      You know Trump’s youngest is crying for completely different reasons while hidden away from the public for being on the spectrum

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        It’s a public event. The occurrence was blasted by the DNC. The son is open to praise or criticism just like anyone else. The rules didn’t change just because he is the potential VP’s son. Either you believe in equal treatment or preferential treatment?

        • Chapelgentry@lemmynsfw.com
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          I think it’s a matter of decorum. In general we shouldn’t attack people’s kids (when they’re minors) for normal occurrences, even if their a public figure.

          I was against bashing Barron when he was a minor, and I’m against bashing Gus until he’s of legal age. In general, however, I refrain from bashing people and would encourage the same decorum from others.

          Being able to criticize is not open license to do so in my opinion.

        • 4lan@lemmy.world
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          All right man go ahead and try to paint this as something bad lol.

          When did I say no one was allowed to make fun of him? It’s just extremely cringy how you guys are trying to find anything you can to make it seem like you’re going to win

          You can go vote for your eyeliner wearing couch fucker 😂 The dude is a robot created by the RNC to push project 2025

          I’m going to vote for people that look and act like us normal Americans.

          Why do Republicans not understand that we have freedom of speech not freedom from consequences?
          We are allowed to make fun of you for anything you say, that is OUR freedom

  • Media Bias Fact Checker@lemmy.worldB
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    USA Today - News Source Context (Click to view Full Report)

    Information for USA Today:

    MBFC: Left-Center - Credibility: High - Factual Reporting: Mostly Factual - United States of America
    Wikipedia about this source

    Search topics on Ground.News

    https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/08/22/tim-walt-son-gus-walz-tears-melted-hearts-at-democratic-convention-dnc-critics-called-it-unmanly/74906490007/

    Media Bias Fact Check | bot support

  • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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    Doesn’t matter if he was normative or not.

    There’s no excuse for treating someone like shit for having real emotions that harmed absolutely nobody.

  • gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works
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    I mean, Republicans are usually deep in the throes of toxic masculinity these days, so as shitty as it is that they’re responding this way, it’s not surprising.

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    A kid is incredibly proud of his dad and they mock him? The fuck is wrong with the world.

      • peopleproblems@lemmy.world
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        Oh man you should have seen my ex the first time I cried after she admitted she cheated on me the first time.

        She was so angry that I was crying she started stammering and yelling that it was my fault, etc. it actually stopped me from crying because I thought it was so funny she said that.

        But I didn’t learn my lesson and the whole thing repeated 4 years later and it again was all my fault. That time I learned my lesson, it wasn’t that I wasnt allowed to cry, that’s fine. It’s that I wasn’t allowed to have emotions.

        • zarkanian@sh.itjust.works
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          Sorry you had an abusive ex. I hope things are better now.

          I think the two emotions men are allowed to have are anger and happiness. Anything else is viewed as weakness.

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      Yeah, of “normal” family values. To a rep dipshit, this kid is obviously not “normal” and I’ll bet an arm that there’s already been an idiot or hundred that asked if the kid is vaccinated.