Tim Walz | mybabe22 | Alec Lace

An heartfelt exchange between Tim Walz and his teenage son, Gus, has sparked a wave of praise and support, but it has also led to...

An heartfelt exchange between Tim Walz and his teenage son, Gus, has sparked a wave of praise and support, but it has also led to ugly incidents of bullying on the internet.

Gus Walz, who suffers Hope Walz from a nonverbal learning disorder, along with anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), watched excitedly from the front seat of Chicago’s United Center and cried openly on Wednesday night as his father, the Democratic candidate for vice president, delivered his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention.

The Minnesota

governor was recounting the difficult fertility treatment he and his wife, Gwen, went through to conceive their daughter, Hope.

Walz followed up by expressing his love for his family from the stage, stating, "Hope, Gus, and Gwen, you are my entire world. And I love you."

Gus Walz rose from his Ann Coulter seat, with teardrops streaming down his cheeks, pointed his index finger and exclaimed, “I love you, Dad.”

The heartwarming exchange between father and son, captured live by television cameras, quickly went viral and has largely been received positively on the web and across media outlets.

Fox News Gwen Walz posted a video of the touching moment on its TikTok account, stating "Gus Walz steals the spotlight during dad's acceptance speech." The comments were mostly positive.

“I hope to inspire my children so much that when they see me speak about the dreams and passion I hold for my country, Trolls On Social Media they are moved to tears like Gus Walz did,” posted Chasten Buttigieg, husband of Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, on X.

“@Tim_Walz has devoted his life to service and has clearly excelled in being an outstanding, supportive, and caring father every step of the way, ” he stated. “We should all Minnesota Governor be so fortunate to know a love like that.”

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who spoke before Walz on Wednesday night, praised the bond between Walz and his children.

More: Who is Gus Walz and what is a non-verbal learning disorder?

“You know you’ve done well as a parent when your kids are as proud of Acceptance Speech you as Gus and Hope are of Tim Walz,” she wrote on X. “'That’s my dad.' No three other words better describe our future vice president. ”

Actress Mia Farrow added: “Gosh! When sweet Gus Walz, cherished son of Gwen and Tim Walz, his face streaming with tears of pride, exclaimed Vice Presidential Nominee 'That’s my dad!' he stole my heart. ”

Critics dismiss Gus Walz as a 'puffy beta male'
But the show of affection provoked a series of sarcastic and cruel comments from online trolls, many of them supporters of MAGA, of former President Donald Trump, who faces Democratic presidential candidate ADHD Kamala Harris and Walz in November.

Conservative columnist and provocateur Ann Coulter ridiculed the teenager’s tears. “Talk about weird, ” she posted on X. The message has since been deleted.

Mike Crispi, a Trump supporter and content creator from New Jersey, criticized Walz’s “crybaby son” on X and wrote, “You Gus Walz raised your kid to be a puffy beta male. Congrats.”

Alec Lace, a Trump supporter who hosts a show about fatherhood, took his own shot at the teenager: “Get that kid a tampon already,” he said, in an apparent reference to a Minnesota state law that Walz Self-advocacy passed as governor requiring schools to offer free menstrual products to students.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel mentioned that Jay Weber, a conservative radio host in Milwaukee, made a post on X criticizing the Walz family, now removed.

"If the Walz(sic) represent today's American man,