Veteran conservative commentator Ann Coulter explained her reasoning for deleting a tweet calling Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s neurodiverse son “weird”—but didn’t apologize for the brazen comments.
Her remark notably prompted backlash from across the aisle as both prominent liberals and conservatives defended the proud son, who openly sobbed as his father accepted the Democrats’ vice presidential nomination in a speech Wednesday.
Videos of Gus Walz, the 17-year-old son of Kamala Harris’ running mate, went viral after he was seen sobbing and exclaiming “that’s my dad” during Walz’s address.
He was diagnosed with a nonverbal learning disorder, ADHD, and an anxiety disorder, his mother Gwen Walz told People Magazine, but the Walz family has long embraced his condition as his “secret power.”
Despite what most saw as a touching moment, some used the opportunity to mock the Minnesota governor’s son. “Talk about weird,” wrote Coulter in a since-deleted tweet.
On Thursday night, Coulter offered an explanation—but not an apology—for deleting the tweet.
“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 wrote in another post. She also said she was on vacation and did not feel public pressure to do so.
But dozens of smaller accounts, as well as a few veteran talking heads, joined a minor pile-on.
Dinesh D’Souza, another conservative stalwart who was pardoned by the former president after a conviction for campaign finance violations, reposted a video of Walz’s son crying during the governor’s speech.
“This kid might have mental problems, but he’s acting just like Tim Walz! So what’s Walz’s excuse?” When another user asked D’Souza to refrain from attacking Walz’s kids, he insisted “I’m not.”
D’Souza’s posts remain up as of Wednesday night.
Jay Weber, a conservative radio host from Milwaukee, called the moment “embarrassing for both father and son,” the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported. Weber later said he took the tweet down after learning Walz was “disabled.”
But many conservatives praised the moment and spoke out against the crass comments.
“This is actually really sweet,” wrote Ben Shapiro, a founding editor of conservative news site The Daily Wire.
Matt Walsh, another Daily Wire commentator, likewise defended the governor’s son. “Attacking a kid for loving his dad is the dumbest move I’ve seen by right wingers on this site in a while,” he wrote in response to a video of the moment.
Ana Navarro, another veteran centrist Republican commentator currently covering the DNC for CNN, said she had brunch with Gwen Walz, the governor’s wife and Gus’s mother, the morning after the footage of her son went viral.
“You could see the emotion she has of the attacks that are going on against her teen son, who’s got special needs,” Navarro told a CNN panel.
“There are many Republicans, many Trump Republicans out on social media taking horrible attacks on a kid who had a beautiful moment of authentic pride and love for his father yesterday and got emotional.”
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