A heartwarming moment unfolded at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday night as Tim Walz’s tearful son Gus Walz cheered on his father and proudly shouted: “That’s my dad.”
During what marked the Minnesota governor’s biggest speech of his career, the cameras panned round to capture 17-year-old Gus sitting in the crowd with his 23-year-old sister Hope and mother Gwen, tears streaming down his face.
But, there was one moment that especially sparked an emotional reaction.
Walz began talking about the fertility struggles he and Gwen had faced and how, after seven years of fertility treatments, they finally had their daughter and aptly named her Hope.
“Hope, Gus and Gwen, you are my entire world. And I love you,” Walz said.
At that moment, Gus leaped to his feet, sobbing and clapping with pride.
“That’s my dad! That’s my dad!” he exclaimed, weeping with jubilation.
Gwen and Hope smiled at him, tears also in their eyes.
At the end of his father’s 17-minute speech, Gus joined his mother and sister up on stage for a touching moment where the family members hugged each other before joining hands and raising them in the air to a standing ovation.
Gus has a non-verbal learning disorder, ADHD and anxiety disorder, his parents revealed to People magazine earlier this month.
Walz and Gwen describe his conditions as, not a setback, but rather their son’s secret power: making him “brilliant,” “hyper-aware” and above all, an “excellent son and brother”.
His heartfelt reaction to his father’s headline speech stole the spotlight at the DNC on Wednesday night, with both left and right-leaning pundits praising the moment.
“Forget politics. If you aren’t moved seeing 17 yr old Gus Walz in tears watching his Dad walk on stage as the Vice Presidential nominee… then please just move on,” MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle wrote on X.
Fellow MSNBC host Jen Psaki noted that she began to “ugly cry”.
“That is the clip-and-save moment that everyone is going to be seeing. If you didn’t get moved by that moment, I don’t even know,” CNN’s Dana Bash said.
Fox News hosts Martha MacCallum and Dana Perino also tipped their hats to the moving family moment, with Perino describing Gus as “delightful”.
Hope has also had some viral moments since her father was tapped as Kamala Harris’s running mate, with a social media video where the governor trolled her about being vegetarian resurfacing in recent weeks.
This isn’t the first time that Walz has spoken out about his family’s fertility struggles.
This week, Gwen Walz opened up in an interview with Glamour about how she went through an intrauterine insemination (IUI) fertility journey with her husband.
“Our fertility journey was an incredibly personal and difficult experience,” she admitted. “Like so many who have experienced these challenges, we kept it largely to ourselves at the time.”
She added: “Many of our closest family and friends were surprised when we shared these experiences so many years later.”
Harris’s family has also taken center stage at the DNC this week, with the vice president’s stepchildren Cole and Ella Emhoff, husband Doug Emhoff and Emhoff’s ex-wife Kirsten Emhoff all in attendance in a show of support.
Cole introduced his father to the stage for his speech on Tuesday night, with a touching video about their non-traditional family dynamics and how his “goofy dad” was thrust into the world of politics.
“We might not look like other families in the White House,” Cole concluded. “But we are ready to represent all families in America.”
Harris will deliver the closing speech on Thursday night as she officially becomes the Democratic party’s presidential nominee.