As can be expected with every American presidential administration, exceptional press scrutiny has focused not just on the president himself, but on all of the members of his extended family. At any hour of the day, no matter where the family members of President Donald Trump go — whether they’re with their businessman-turned-president patriarch or are simply going about their daily activities — the Trumps know that the media will be covering and spinning their activities for all they’re worth.
An unfortunate downside to this news coverage is sometimes mean-spirited, hurtful exaggeration and/or clipping of images and video out of context to suggest storylines that sometimes go beyond the truth. In the case of Trump’s young 10-year-old son Barron, there have been a number of instances where the press and independent creators have gone too far and made fun of the boy, who some have claimed suffers from developmental difficulties and/or autism.
Barron Trump is the only child of Donald and Melania Trump. He was born one year after his parents married in 2005. He currently attends Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School in Manhattan and will be living in Trump Tower at least until he finishes his current school semester.
Even though Donald Trump has four other children from his two ex-wives, there’s a 23-year difference between young Barron and his brother Eric, who’s already 33 years old. But Barron’s nickname is still “Little Donald” because he shares many traits with his president father; Barron apparently likes to play with models of New York skyscrapers, just like his Dad.
As First Lady Melania says, “[Barron] is a very strong-minded, very special, smart boy. He is independent and opinionated and knows exactly what he wants. Sometimes I call him Little Donald. He is a mixture of us in looks, but his personality is why I call him ‘Little Donald.’”
Almost unbelievably, Barron has a whole floor of Trump Tower to himself, likely making him one of the most pampered 10-year-olds in the entire world. Barron is bilingual in English and his mother’s tongue of Slovenian; his mother’s Slovenian parents also live in New York.
During Trump’s year-and-a-half-long presidential campaign, Barron was the subject of at least one cruel Youtube video from comedienne Rosie O’Donnell, whom the elder Trump has mercilessly insulted for years. In the video, O’Donnell insinuated that Barron was autistic, commenting, “Barron Trump autistic? If so — what an amazing opportunity to bring attention to the AUTISM epidemic.”
O’Donnell was harshly criticized for uploading the clip, which was all the more bizarre since O’Donnell’s own daughter reportedly has been diagnosed with the developmental condition.
At the presidential inauguration ceremonies, the young Barron appeared to be falling asleep at points and was seen rocking back and forth in a bid to stay awake. At other times, the boy was caught on video looking bored.
At one point, Melania appeared to play a game with him by reaching out her hand for a “high five” from Barron and then taking it away. After she turned away from him, Barron then appeared to want to give her a high five back anyway. On the campaign trail, Barron was seen testing his mother’s patience a number of times as she shot glares at him if he seemed to be acting out of line.
All of this behavior has not gone unnoticed. Online, social media commentators and bullies have taken it upon themselves to do everything from taunt Barron via mean tweets to making memes of him using cut-up and out-of-context video.
Katie Rich, a Saturday Night Live writer, was chastised on social media for tweeting that Barron would be the U.S.’s “first homeschool shooter.” Commenters called her tweet “tasteless,” “sick” and “disgusting.”
One person tweeted, “@katiemaryrich what’s your problem. Do you get off picking on little kids? No wonder SNL is garbage these days. You work for them.” Some users called for television network NBC to terminate her contract while others demanded she make a public apology. Online, there were reports that Rich had been suspended from Saturday Night Live, but NBC wouldn’t confirm it.
Opposing all this behavior has been none other than Democratic progeny Chelsea Clinton, who, in a bid that seemed utterly calculated to draw maximum press attention, tweeted that “Barron Trump deserves the chance every child does — to be a kid.”
But Chelsea also couldn’t resist the urge to take a swipe at Barron’s father as well, adding, “Standing up for every kid also means opposing POTUS [President of the U.S.] policies that hurt kids.”
Some of Clinton’s followers called her two-faced tweet “hypocritical,” with one saying, “I personally find her message convoluted… As a child of a president, she of all people should not make a statement about the Trump boy’s childhood while making a point about opposing his father’s policies… The two things are unrelated and should be kept separate.”
Another commented, “This seems very half-hearted to me. Are you standing up for this child, or are you using him as an opportunity to make a political point?” Still another tweeted, “@ChelseaClinton @POTUS Witch! You pretend to care for Barron and in the same tweet use him as a prop to attack DT?”
However, some Twitter followers stood up for Chelsea. One wrote on Facebook, “Chelsea, thank you for being classy like your mama, HRC [Hillary Rodham Clinton]. I love that you are advocating for all children.”
Another wrote, “Why can’t people just thank Chelsea for standing up for Barron and all children of our country without bringing in her Mom, Dad, Bernie, Trump and other unrelated things into this conversation. Jeez, it’s embarrassing. This message is about standing up for our children no matter what party you belong to. Thank you, Chelsea Clinton, for your grace and for setting an example.”
To be certain, discussion of Barron is likely just getting started, and this subject will probably flare up again in the near future as Barron attends social events and/or goes out on his own at some point. As with Chelsea Clinton, Barron’s relationship with the press is sure to be an almost lifelong one.
~ Conservative Zone
