Politicians’ children are legitimate targets in a polarized America

It is likely that Republican firebrand Ann Coulter is ruing the day she posted a mean-spirited article on X about Gus Walz’s passionate response to seeing his father, Kamala’s Harris’ running mate Tim Walz, on stage at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Moved to tears as his father took the podium, Gus cried out to his sister Hope and those around him, “That’s my Dad!”

Coulter, who calls hate crime laws “unconstitutional,” headlined her X article on Gus, “Talk about weird,” reports The Guardian, undoubtedly hitting back at Walz using adjectives in that vein to describe some of the attacks coming out of the Trump campaign on Harris.

In Coulter’s world view, anyone leaning further to the left than she herself, is fair game, even 17-year-old Gus Walz whose nonverbal learning disorders, ADHD and an anxiety disorder were featured in an exclusive article in People magazine this month.

The backlash against Coulter was fast and intense. Battered by insults, delivered in some cases with a meanness to match her own, Coulter took down her post.

Writing on X, Coulter said: “I took it down as soon as someone told me he’s austistc [sic], but it’s Democrats who go around calling everyone weird thinking it’s hilariously funny.”

Coulter’s remorse was questioned as she once again came under fire. “Weird how your apology sounds like a justification. Really weird,” wrote one X user.

Photo: Ann Coulter X account

“This is a weird way to apologize for being a hateful person,” another X user wrote. And, “Oh so if he didn't have autism you were still going to go after a teenager regardless. That's what you just told us. What a miserable and disgusting wretch of a human.”

It seems brutal that Gus, a boy described by his father as “brilliant” with a condition Walz calls his “secret power,” should be at the center of such an unpleasant spat but the children of high-profile politicians should come prepared to be trolled, at least in the US.

Chelsea Clinton, an only child who found herself center stage when her father Bill became president, was possibly the first ‘First daughter’ to be exposed to the wanton nastiness that so often accompanies political agendas.

In an interview with The Guardian in 2018, Chelsea said: “I’ve had so much vitriol flung at me for as long as I can literally remember, people saying awful things to me even as a child.”

Lucky for her, Chelsea missed the social media age by several years. But by the time Barack Obama became president, Facebook and Twitter were in full swing and his daughters moved into the combat zone.

Republican staffer, Elizabeth Lauten, made headlines when she remarked on Facebook that former President Obama’s daughters, Sasha, 13, and Malia, 16, had dressed for a Thanksgiving ceremony like “they deserve a spot at a bar.”

“Dear Sasha and Malia: I get you’re both in those awful teen years, but you’re a part of the First Family, try showing a little class. At least respect the part you play,” Lauten wrote in the post.

Lauten speedily rescinded after her post went viral, according to CNN. Apologizing on Facebook, she said she had “quickly judged the two young ladies in a way that I would never have wanted to be judged myself as a teenager.”

In the current climate, no one is safe. As young Barron Trump, 18, entered politics as a Florida delegate at the Republican National Convention, his debut was met with derision from various quarters, according to Newsweek

Donald Trump's youngest and his only child with Melania, Barron quickly became a top trending topic on X.

"Throwing his hat in the ring will be a regretful experience," @DemocracyDennis said on X while @theliamnissan wrote: "I will roast that lanky dweeb like a marshmallow on a camp fire."

Just months later, Kamala Harris’ 25-year-old stepdaughter fashionista Ella Emhoff is being attacked for the simple white ensemble she chose for the 2024 Democratic National Convention.

Photo: screenshot from Laura Loomer's X account

So-called investigative journalist and far-right political activist, Laura Loomer, posted on X: “This is how Kamala Harris’s step daughter (she has no kids of her own) dressed tonight for his [sic] father’s wife’s big night.”

A pro-Trump influencer, Loomer added: “This family is competing with Biden for the title of trashiest family to occupy the White House.”

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