Tim Walz is under fire for aggressively pulling his son Gus Walz’s arm on stage at the Democratic National Convention.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) August 23, 2024
The incident was apparently filmed on the third day of the event (Wednesday), the same day Walz gave his speech.
Gus is 17-years-old and reportedly has a… pic.twitter.com/5yMWpgy8Ur
Tim Walz's son Gus is 17. We were discussing him yesterday in "Simply having a neurodivergent son is not enough reason for [Tim Walz] to be praised..."
Yesterday's post title is a quote from an MSNBC article that goes on to say "what makes the Walz family’s story so reassuring is that they seem to want to help Gus live a good life rather than change who he is." I hope that is what they want. But if we're going to talk about what "they seem to want," then we have to contemplate the way Tim Walz — who's being held out as some sort of Dad for All of Us — yanked the boy into place on the stage. But let's talk about all the children who were — conspicuously or not — yanked onto that stage — or any stage.
It's been bothering me for a long time. I've had a tag — "using children in politics" — to collect the many stories over the years.
This deceptive clip is going viral on right-wing media for supposedly showing Walz “abusing his son” by grabbing his hand & pulling him. In the 2nd clip, I show that he was pulling his son away from smashing his head into the teleprompter, which his daughter has to walk around. pic.twitter.com/EUE2AH5UdK
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) August 23, 2024
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89 comments:
I suppose kids will be "used" as props to the extent parents think they will help the cause.
If Walz yanked his son like that in front of the entire world, imagine how he treats him in private.
The media reacted rather differently to Sarah Palin's neurodivergent son ... if we are comparing the treatment of candidates to be vice president and the political use of their children.
In all fairness, it takes careful breeding, expert training, and a top-notch handler to make a winning presentation at Westminster.
When Barron turned 18 Melania gave him permission to help Trump. He wasn't allowed to be a delegate to the convention, I believe, because he was underage. The influencer posted yesterday interviewing Trump is an example of Barron's campaign advocacy.
Only a few days ago someone questioned if Melania, who isn't as engaged as Michelle O in the workings of government, was of proper service to her country. Motherhood and protecting her child is an important service, and Melania is exemplary. Now that her son is an adult, she's stepped back.
The dynamic between parent and neurodivergent children is obviously different from typical children. I can’t judge what Walz did with his son on stage. Only he and his wife know what his son responds to.
Yah, they're props. Is it going to change the vote? I like _____ but xe dragged their kids on stage -nobody ever.
The expression on Tim Walz's face, creepy bad vibes.
This question relates to the IVF question in my book. In that case the report was that "Gwen Walz" came forth to clarify the IVF questions. Not him or the two together. I have no reason to question Tim Walz's love for his son, but I wonder if she is the "the filter" in the family relationship. She talks to the doctors and teachers and reports back to him what is said. Then she communicated back to them what the family decides. Little bits of information get lost. With relationships one or the other often takes the lead so again no judgement. It just makes appear him a bit clueless when he talking about the situation.
h
I would think the Trump family has illustrated that really well. Barron wasn't even at the RNC. But when that happens, we're told it's because Trump is a bad father....
John + Chris(sy) Cohen
How do we know those names, faces... seXual preference.
People use their love for "my gay son" + trot them out for pictures the same as they use their IDF + neurodivergent kid. You do it too, ann.
Don't be a hypocrit or try to hide it? Libs use their identities, not their Work for a "boost", like divorced moms use the "single mom" tag.
It speaks volumes about how the Walz family loves one another and is not afraid to express that love openly.
The kid loves his dad. That was plain to see. Anybody making fun of that probably lives a sad life.
Americans are tired of mean and ugly…Harris / Walz are going to cast a very wide net.
I agree with Disparity of Cult. It’s the look on Walz’s face that speaks volumes,.
This term "neurodivergent". Strictly speaking appears to mean anyone who neurological function is out of the ordinary, i.e. high or low cognitive ability. I am guessing it is being deployed as a term of art for autism. Anyone up to speed on this?
Walz is a creeper.
Althouse said...
...we have to contemplate the way Tim Walz — who's being held out as some sort of Dad for All of Us — yanked the boy into place on the stage.
"Dang. Short bus is taking some real hits."
Joyful!
Are you drunk?
he's Too Busy, talking to Communist China; and receiving marching orders
Serious Question.. How did this guy make it to SSgt? let alone ANY higher?
He seems creepy
That horseschiff may play in Bemidji, but normies they ain’t.
Never forget poor little Trig.
It doesn't play in Bemidji, but it plays in Edina and Woodbury (and St. Paul and Minneapolis, natch) and that's where the votes are.
I'd say Derve has a new identity...
As the father of a “neurodivergent son” I hate this sort of thing. But politicians use their families as props all the time. Somehow, “My kids love and you should too” has been normalized. I blame John F. Kennedy.
The reason cats are so standoffish is that they remember stuff they did as kittens.
The yank is all over X this morning.
The phoniness runs deep with Walz. He gives off a creep vibe. He is that legend-in-his-own-mind high school teacher with low-grade charisma and a snarky affect who plays to the back row gang and denigrates his more-talented colleagues. Keep calling him "Coach". It fits the persona.
Oh for pity sake, Walz took his son’s hand on stage and pulled him close for the family pic of the upturned arms, which is seen in other political conventions. It was probably chaotic and things were moving fast and perhaps Walz knew he needed to keep the son focused for that moment. It’s so easy to make something perfectly innocent look menacing. The love that the son has for his dad is evident, he doesn’t look like a child who has been abused.
Perhaps the assistant coach needs an assistant coach. He’s a creep.
The yank does not Bother me . The boy is a bit slow. As to children. Whether they are shown on stage or not does not matter. They are part of the family so they are involved no matter what. Trump had his grandchild give a speech. Politician having children and showing them off is normal.
I think Walz didn’t want him to walk into the teleprompter. This is along the same lines as what fell out of Nancy Pelosi’s pants as she approached the podium to give her speech. And why did a cameraman pan to a woman in the audience when Oprah was speaking and said something about childless cat ladies. It’s live TV so stuff happens. It’s the unscripted moments that make it barely tolerable to watch.
I was told by the cat ladies that children weren’t important.
It was a love yank.
Harris / Walz are going to cast a very wide net.
How telling. Democrats treating their voters as fish.
As someone who works with neurodivergent people to help extraordinary people do ordinary things, I can say that I dislike this trend that no one should work to overcome barriers to their personal goals and just “be who they are.” There is a balance between no one needing to change anything in themselves and expecting that one can change anything one wants. All of us are people who struggle at activities in life, why just let them all be as difficult as possible?
1. Politicians are going to use kids as props
2. It does not matter. Leave them out of it.
The yank didn’t look much different from the way Dr Jill would treat Biden on stage.
Moral people generally don't use their under age kids as props.
What “fell out of Pelosi’s pants” was the card documenting the warranty that covers her face.
Bottom feeders…
Or maybe her invitation to spend the Labor Day weekend with the Bidens at their place in Delaware.
Children under the age of 18 really shouldn't be part of a political campaign nor be on the stage at such an event- full stop- even if they volunteer to do so. It is creepy. I can't remember a single time in any job I ever had where a colleague, a direct report, or a member of my line management brought a child to the workplace (yeah, I have heard of "Bring you son/daughter to Work Day, but no one ever did for very good reasons).
Politicians who use their children the way Walz used his son are a dime a dozen, of course, but it is still creepy and inappropriate. Were I in Walz's shoes, there is no way my minor children would be on political stage of any kind- it is extreme narcissism to allow it or to do it.
As far as “kids as props” go, the clear winner is Bill DeBlasio’s son Dante. Bill was not getting traction in the mayoral race until he ran an ad featuring Dante talking about his dad. The minute I saw it, I knew it was over.
Gwen Walz ≈ Jill Biden.
That boy is his toy IYKWIMAITYD. Walz has child sexual predator written all over him.
🤡
Oh......Did you just change the subject, and prop up a straw man argument instead? I don't see a single comment saying the kid doesn't love his dad. I don't see a single criticism of the kid, period. That's what is 'plain to see'. The post is about the self-serving practice of hauling your kids out on stage, in this case, literally hauling them, in a situation where their condition might contribute to making this a terrifying ordeal. Isn't that what the post is really about?
Hey, if no one used their kids in politics who would Biden have to sniff and fondle??
It's for pity's sake that it's being pointed out.
'It’s so easy to make something perfectly innocent look menacing.' Yes - and difficult to portray something that is menacing, to be something perfectly innocent.
Perfectly innocent - you know, as in, bragging about being a ' football coach' with a winning team, instead of the lesser, 'assistant coach'. Or having yourself announced as 'Command Sargent Major' when you have never held the rank, know that you didn't do the work necessary, and yet still try to pass yourself off as one - having run away from your deployment and left your troops without leadership. Or maybe letting rioters lay your big city to waste for days, before calling in the National Guard to bring some peace and limit the damage to your economic infrastructure. 'Perfectly innocent', like that - and other myriad examples which keep coming to light.
No sacrifice is too great in the pursuit of absolute power.
“Neuro-divergent” has more to do with nurture than nature.
Walz does not have normal human relationships. He does not act normally around people.
Have watched a number of videos now containing Tim Walz. His physical demeanor suggests he's not a pleasant man, nor a good person.
Watch that Covid lockdown video where a woman is splatted with a paintball by National Guard in Minnesota for being on her porch. That's what Walz beget. Watch him praise a radical iman - that's who Walz supports. Guy has had multiple trips to China, multiple instances of falsehoods and lies in his biography and personal story.
Kamala's speech, uplifting as it was presented, was meaningless fluff, with zero policy information, and no demonstration whatsoever that Harris is capable of being anything more than a pretty talking-head. Sorry, still not presidential material, no matter how much personal-coaching has occurred in past 30 days.
That said, I'm receiving numerous text from older women hectoring me to enthusiastically embrace Kamala Mamala's presidency run. It's like my female friends have been body-snatched by Stepford Wives preprogramed pussy-hat ladies.
"But let's talk about all the children who were — conspicuously or not — yanked onto that stage"
But let's talk about them correctly: OK when done by loving Dem parents, not OK when manipulated by evil GOPers, and no props for deplorable parents who shield their kids.
It's just a term used to describe people whose brains are wired a little bit differently from the norm. I think it's used to distinguish from what used to be called mental retardation so it includes things like autism whatever the walls kid has ADHD dyslexia, etc. It's a good and useful thing because a lot of kids now in school are getting extra help because if you are neurodivergent or neurodiverse which I prefer cuz it sounds much more woke require different learning methods and sometimes additional time in order to succeed academically.
Who hurt you? It's not your fault. It's not your fault. It's not your fault. It's not your fault. It's not your fault!
She sounds a lot like Althouse's old nemesis who shall not be named.
"Neurodivergent" (I had to look it up) is probably an OK term, I guess, though so broad as to be of limited usefulness - except as one of those bizarre, gobbledygook badges of honor that Lefties seem to love. You know, "differently-abled" for disabled people, "sex worker" for whores, and the like. I suspect that I won't ever be saying "neurodivergent" to anyone.
Just look at Walz's face when he yanks his stage prop across the stage.
That is the face of love right there.
Walz is a vicious creep.
I am beginning to think there are nearly 8 billion " people whose brains are wired a little bit differently from the norm." The question becomes where do we place the lines of "normal" on the bell curve. It has changed, a lot. That is one possibility for the fast growing number of those on the spectrum.
Thank goodness it was just a piece of payer that fell out of her pants and not something that required a mop to clean up.
The yank is just a tempest in a teapot. This quote from MSNBC "what makes the Walz family’s story so reassuring is that they seem to want to help Gus live a good life rather than change who he is." strikes me as odd and perhaps a sign of how out of touch with family life the new american left seems to be. I've known plenty of friends and family with neuro-divergent kids, from mild retardation to schizophrenia and they all treat their kids that way, MSNBC wants us to believe there is something different and special about the Walz family. There's not.
I understand that one line of attack by the Democrats is to proclaim that Kamala and Tim are the new "Mom and Dad" for the country. Two observations. Kamala hasn't had the full experience of being a Mom. Step Mom maybe. But not a Harrrison Butker style "Mom".
And if Kamala were my mother I can guarandamntee you I would have no Oedipus Complex.
There was also a video of Kommie’s nieces explaining how to pronounce their auntie’s name. Blunts the Asian heritage behind cute kids. That’s something else I noticed: i think Mindy Kaling was the only South Asian apeaker, and in general if Kommie’s Asian heritage was mentioned, it was rushed through, or cushioned by comedy/cuteness etc.
Why? Because the onky thing Urban blacks hate more than Hispanics is H1B’s.
And the average MAGA voter doesnt have much love for them either.
JSM
Guess that makes Don and JD the super-modern Dad & Dad!
Not sure that I would call this kids in politics. There are just when you expect people to bring their spouses and kids - such as accepting a political nomination or being sworn into office. Just don’t drag them onto the campaign trail or dwell on them until they are adults. The older 3, or even 4, of Trump’s kids are fine. Don, Jr makes campaign appearances, while his sister in law is the RNC co-chair. In the last election, Hunter was old enough that his laptop should have been an issue, and ditto for Ashley and her diary.
I blame all those X-Men movies. Kids, you can be neurodivergent and still not be a superhero.
I guess Garrison Keillor is in #MeToo jail, or maybe he left the country when Trump was elected. 20 years ago, anything liberal and Minnesota-themed would have to feature the Lake Woebegon guy.
"America's Dad" has a dark side.
And if Kamala were my mother I can guarandamntee you I would have no Oedipus Complex.
Don't be too sure. Distant, self-involved parents cause a lot of problems in their children.
I'm sorry, what? Shouldn't want to change what he is? If I had a child who was non-verbal, I'd want to change that if I possibly could, to improve my child's life.
“You had to be a dipshit, dintcha…”
He’s been off getting that massive, square forehead mapped.
I like that society is starting to see that there are a lot of normals when it comes to brains. One Aspie I know well was put in Special Ed because she refused to talk in class, and respond to her teacher when he insistently mispronounced her name. She wasn’t Austistic, because she did talk at a normal time, and talked well. But just to family members. Then, with the retarded boys pulling her hair in Special Ed, she decided that she would do what it took to get out of school early, which meant talking in class, and with her brother, winning the state debating championship. Then graduating from HS before her 16th birthday, with a 3.8 average. A year in floral school (because they wouldn’t let her go to college at 16), and a BA before she was 21. She is tetrachromatic, and can mix and match colors better than all but a few. And can space plan to the inch, by sight. All for someone who was put in Special Ed because she was assumed to be retarded.
A surprising number of the major tech innovators of the last half century have also probably been Aspies, or somewhere on the spectrum.
My partner has a lot of dyslexics in her extended family. Many of them are truly differently enabled. They just don’t learn well from reading books. Indeed, one of my best friends was the best negotiator I ever met. After we whooped some ass, I asked him why he had gotten an MBA, instead of a JD, where he could have made $millions$ with that ability. His answer was that he was dyslexic, and worried about the reading required in LS - 100 pages a week per class of cases. In any case, it’s often uncanny watching a dyslexic watch something done once, say in a car repair, and be able to do it himself right when he tries it. In her extended family are dyslexics who are superb electricians, automotive mechanics, nail designers, etc. who all had problems in school because of how they were directed to a single way of learning.
And then I think of myself. I am nearsighted, not well coordinated, somewhat absent minded, mediocre memory, etc. I do learn well by reading and I read very fast. I also have a good mind for mathematics. I did well in school and professionally. But a century earlier? I would have made a mediocre farmer, and a worse hunter. Even a century ago, I might have starved in many parts of this world. Probably most.
I wonder if dyslexics are a throwback to the past. Or maybe not. And Asperger’s/Autism of the future. Funny thing is that one of the ways to significantly increase the odds of a kid on the Autism Spectrum is to breed two engineers together. Happened a lot in Silicon Valley. Called “Assortive Mating”. How many of the tech billionaires are somewhere on the Spectrum?
First time I've seen this clip in slow motion. It's not just the apparent anger on Coach Walz's face. It's also that he seems to barely catch himself before saying something he would not wish the nation to hear. And there's the quick look of bewilderment and hurt on the son's face. And the look on the wife's face. Coach Walz has given me a "creep" vibe from the jump. This little scene does nothing to allay it. So if this psyop of a campaign is supposed to be all about "teh vibes," let's leave no vibe behind.
He's not non-verbal. He has a non-verbal learning disability. It's an unusual concept, but maybe worth clarifying before you comment.
Don Jr. said in one interview that I saw that Barron had a hard time dealing with the assassination attempt. Keeping him home from the RNC was the right call from a parental perspective. Plus, he was probably busy with all the summer-before-college to-dos.
Good point. Also the absence of Hispanics.
My surgery partner was dyslexic. It had interesting effects on him.
Said video clip certainly doesn't demonstrate "loving dad" Tim. There's something truly weird about the guy, the manic facial gestures, the forced oversized grins, the discomfort on stage. Feel sorry for his wife, seems he would be a difficult person to be with home alone.
Meanwhile Baron is pretty much left to his own devices by Donald and Melania ... the press wants to push him into the spotlight but the Trumps have not gone for it. I mean sure, his granddaughter spoke at the RNC and was in the spotlight but she seemed to want it and relish it and want it, unlike Baron
It used to be ok for major Media institutions to make fun of the children of politicians (Republican politicians, coincidentally):
https://www.thewrap.com/andrew-giuliani-chris-farley-snl-1994-video/
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