Gus Walz won over the internet wearing his heart on his sleeve at the DNC. But the bullying that followed is what kids experience every day, some say.

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.

  • teft@lemmy.world
    1951·
    27 days ago

    They think him crying for an extremely emotional event is beta yet this is alpha:

    At least Gus was crying with happiness. Rittenhouse was crying in fear.

    • CosmicTurtle0@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      144·
      27 days ago

      I was hoping this picture would be on this thread.

      Crying is only allowed by men if you’re a conservative under oath I suppose.

      Let’s add another one.

    • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      32·
      27 days ago

      Some of us are old enough to remember John Boehner before he showed everyone that he stands for nothing and became a pro-cannabis lobbyist after retiring from his position as the GOP Speaker of the House of Representatives (fucking scumbag. Put people in prison for decades because of it while you have the power to change that, and then immediately becoming a lobbyist for cause when you lose that power.

      Dude used to cry all the fucking time. It was like his trademark.

    • barsquid@lemmy.world
      8·
      27 days ago

      I guess it is:

      Real tears for real emotions are beta.

      Fake tears for emotionally manipulating a jury are alpha.

    • DBT@lemmy.world
      62·
      27 days ago

      Wasn’t this picture taken after the “not guilty” verdict was read?