The MAGA Mockery of Gus Walz

I’ve always had a healthy skepticism concerning American politics, but there have been certain moments that left me — for lack of a better term — broken. Moments that left me questioning the entire democratic enterprise and what it’s doing to us and bringing out of us.

One such moment occurred in 2019 when Sean Spicer — Donald Trump’s former press secretary who famously offered “alternative facts” concerning the attendance numbers of Trump’s inauguration — appeared on Dancing with the Stars. In response to both his low scores on the show and Mike Huckabee’s encouragement that people vote for him, Spicer tweeted, “Clearly the judges aren’t going to be with me. Let’s send a message to #Hollywood that those of us who stand for #Christ won’t be discounted.”

Such a shameless appeal to Christians left me, shall we say, shook, reminding me of the simplistic anti-secular commentary that made up the background noise of my childhood. That it worked — despite consistently receiving low judge scores, Spicer made it to the show’s top 6 thanks to viewer votes — seemed a clear indication that silly culture war rhetoric still resonated with my fellow Christians.

Another moment happened earlier this week, after Gus Walz, son of vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, had an emotional reaction to his father’s speech at the Democratic National Convention. It was a lovely and deeply human moment that resonated with many, including some on the Right. But for certain dark corners of the MAGA world, it was an opportunity for mockery and derision. For example:

• Jay Weber, a right-wing radio host on Milwaukee’s 1130 WISN, called Gus a “blubbering bitch boy.”
• Ann Coulter called Gus Walz’s display “weird.”
• Another talk show host, Mike Crispi, called him “stupid” and a “puffy beta male.”
• Right-wing podcaster Alec Lace suggested that someone “get that kid a tampon already.”

With their mockery, Weber et al. violated a cardinal political rule: you don’t target candidates’ families, and especially their kids. Mocking a 17-year-old kid is disgusting, but in this case, it’s even more so: Gus Walz is disabled, with a non-verbal learning disorder, ADHD, and an anxiety disorder. The initial comments were bad enough, but even worse were Weber et al.‘s attempts to explain away their words or even double down.

To his credit, Weber eventually apologized, calling his comments “stupid and hurtful” and saying he was “disappointed with myself.” But before that, he issued a non-apology saying he was caught up “in an X fever” and didn’t know Walz was disabled. (As if it’d be OK to mock Gus Walz if he wasn’t disabled.) Coulter tried to defend her post as a riposte to Kamala Harris’s campaign calling JD Vance “weird” for things like his “childless cat ladies” comments. (Never mind that Vance is an adult politician running for vice president and Gus Walz is none of those things.) Crispi deleted his original post, claiming he didn’t have context before calling Gus Walz a “puffy beta male.”

As for Lace’s “tampon” comment, he called it “an obvious shot at how ridiculous it is that Tim Walz thinks boys need tampons” and said he didn’t know Gus Walz was disabled. (Again, as if belittling a non-disabled 17-year-old would be acceptable. Also, Tim Walz doesn’t think boys need tampons.) Lace also tried to spin things by sharing a video of Tim Walz yanking on Gus’s arm to keep him from walking into a teleprompter, saying “I would never condone treating a disabled kid like this.”

Alec Lace is a relatively small fry in the MAGA pond, with approximately 26,000 followers on X/Twitter and YouTube apiece. But a quick perusal of his X/Twitter feed reveals that he’s as passionate for Trump as anyone. It also reveals that he’s a father of four and hosts First Class Fatherhood, a podcast where he interviews celebrity fathers (e.g., Tom Brady, Matthew McConaughey, Tony Hawk). Lace has also published a book with the same title that contains anecdotes meant to give fathers “guidance and inspiration” on such topics as finances, discipline, dating, and faith. More:

Alec believes that being a father is the most important role a man can play in the game of life. And his hope is that this book will help change the narrative of fatherhood and family life, and greatly reduce the number of children growing up without a father in the home.

Given his emphasis on the value of fathers, one would think that Alec Lace would celebrate a moment where a son openly expresses love and admiration for his father. Such a moment that would seem to prove, beyond any shadow of doubt, that Lace is correct concerning the importance of fathers.

Shortly after Weber’s “blubbering bitch boy” comment came to light, I posted this on Facebook: “This is what acceptance of ‘locker room talk’ gets us: toxic little men trying to signal their ‘toughness’ and ‘masculinity’ by mocking those they perceive as weak.” Any decent human being, regardless of their politics, should be able to celebrate Gus Walz’s expression of love, especially those who claim to care about family values. That some see it, instead, as a moment of weakness to be ridiculed is yet another condemnation of our current political climate — as well as their own hearts.