Michelle Obama has jumped to praise Tim Walz’s teenage son for his emotional reaction to his dad’s Democratic National Convention speech and taken a swipe at critics after firebrand conservative commentator Ann Coulter cruelly called him “weird.”
During Walz’s rousing acceptance speech for the vice presidential nomination on Wednesday night, Gus Walz proudly leaped to his feet, tears streaming down his face and shouted: “That’s my Dad!”
While most viewers and political pundits found the moment heartwarming, right-wing media pundit Coulter shared a news article about the teen’s reaction on X and captioned the post: “Talk about weird…”
Coulter, who was seemingly parroting the “weird” epithet that Walz branded Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance with back in July, later deleted the post following a swathe of backlash online.
Later, Michelle Obama, who herself delivered an electrifying speech at the DNC on Tuesday eviscerating Donald Trump, took to X to defend the teen and hit out at anyone “making fun or mocking” the 17-year-old.
“I was touched to see Gus Walz’s joy when his dad @Tim_Walz took the stage last night. Thankful for you showing us all what real love looks like, Gus,” Obama said as the DNC’s fourth and final day wrapped up on Thursday evening.
“Let’s be a nation that embraces this kind of warmth and vulnerability, instead of making fun or mocking it. We could all use some of Gus’s example in our own lives.”
Other figures also hit out at Coulter directly for her attack on Gus, who has a non-verbal learning disorder, ADHD and anxiety disorder.
Hollywood actor Billy Baldwin shared a quote from Comedy Central’s Roast on X and wrote: “F*** off Ann you… repugnant, hatchet faced b****.’”
“I can see why a child loving their parents would feel foreign to you,” former Obama staffer and podcaster Tommy Vietor retorted.
“Ann Coulter will die alone, and forensic pathologist will discover her withered corpse is nothing but Marlboro reds and box wine,” former Republican strategist Rick Wilson chimed in.
Coulter previously faced flak in 2020 for sharing a post of a crying Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager who fatally shot two Black Lives Matter protesters in Wisconsin in 2020, along with the caption: “I want him as my president.” X, then Twitter, removed the statement due to a violation of its rules.
Gus had joined his mom Gwen Walz and 23-year-old sister Hope on Wednesday night to watch his father’s biggest speech of his career, where he accepted the party’s nomination to become Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate.
Walz was 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 told the crowd.
It was at this moment that the captures captured Gus’s heartfelt reaction.
The Walzes first spoke out about Gus’s conditions earlier this month during an interview with People magazine.
“When our youngest Gus was growing up, it became increasingly clear that he was different from his classmates,” the couple said. “Gus preferred video games and spending more time by himself.”
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”.
The Independent has contacted Coulter for comment about her X post, and its subsequent removal.