The Democratic National Convention had many high points: Michelle Obama’s classic definition of Trump’s entitlement, “affirmative action for generational wealth”; Hakeem Jeffries’ “Bro, we broke up with you for a reason,” which was an expression of false intimacy; Vice President Kamala Harris’ defiant promise: “We’re not going back.”
But the most emotional moment for me — and I bet for many others — was what happened during vice presidential nominee Tim Walz’s acceptance speech on Wednesday. He and his wife had struggled with fertility issues, he said, and their long road to parenthood had inspired the name of their daughter, Hope. Seeing her father, Hope, 23, murmured the words “I love you” and made the shape of a heart with her hands.
“Hope, Gus and Gwen,” Walz said, “you are my whole world and I love you.”
With that, 17-year-old Gus, his cheeks streaked with tears and his face contorted with emotion, stood up, pointed at his father and exclaimed, “That's my dad!”
It was a beautiful moment and a reminder that while some politicians openly talk about valuing family, others demonstrate that this is the case.
I am always amazed at the way President Biden radiates unconditional love for his family. While some parents understandably cast aside their adult children who lie, cheat, and steal as they battle addiction, Biden’s support for his troubled son Hunter has never wavered. Even amid Hunter’s criminal trials and investigations, he has appeared at his father’s side in many highly visible settings, including the convention stage, which is a powerful testament to the strength of their bond.
I loved looking at photographs of President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, in bed surrounded by their unruly grandchildren at the family's summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine.
Resurfaced comments from Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance put the campaign’s focus on family in a very different way. The Ohio senator sarcastically claimed that the Democratic Party is controlled by “childless cat ladies” and that childless people have no business in their country.
Vance and his wife have three young children, and yet the only anecdote I’ve heard him tell about any of them is one he recently recounted on a podcast called “Full Send.” He said he was in a hotel room with his 7-year-old son, who is “going through a Pokémon phase,” when Trump called to offer Vance a spot on his roster.
“He’s trying to talk to me about Pikachu, and I’m on the phone with Donald Trump, and I’m like, ‘Son, shut your mouth for 30 seconds about Pikachu,’” Vance said. “This is the most important phone call of my life. Please let me take it.”
Shut the fuck up?
Listen, we've all lost our patience and gone crazy with our kids, but who among us boasts about talking to a toddler that way?
When it comes to family atmosphere, the Trumps are… sui generis.
You never know what's going on in someone else's marriage, but to be married to him would be to live in a constant state of humiliation. Here's a man who's been married three times, who's been convicted of sexually assaulting a woman in a specialty store fitting room; who bragged about grabbing women by the… well, you know; who said he'd date his own daughter if they weren't related; who allegedly had sex with a porn actor while Melania was home with their toddler son.
Melania's audience coldness Her attitude toward her husband is the subject of viral memes and late-night TV skits. A chilling video from her inauguration captured her smiling at her husband and then frowning as soon as he turned his back.
And was I the only one who noticed the way Trump recently pitted his sons against each other? Last month, at his Miami-area golf course, his youngest son, Barron, made his first appearance at one of his father's campaign rallies.
“Welcome to the scene, Barron,” said Trump, who asked his son to stand. As the crowd applauded the young man, who recently graduated from high school, Trump said: “You’re pretty popular. You might be more popular than Don and Eric. We need to talk about this. Hey, Don, we need to talk about this.”
I don't care if he was “joking.” That's a terrible way to treat your children.
At least two members of Trump’s family — his niece Mary Trump and his brother, Fred Trump III — have written books portraying him as a damaged narcissist. During the publicity tour for “All in the Family: the Trumps and How We Got This Way,” Fred Trump, whose son has a developmental disability, told ABC News that when he asked Donald Trump to replenish his son’s medical fund, Trump replied, “Your son doesn’t recognize you. Let him die and move to Florida.”
The former president has denied the story, of course, but are we really to believe the man who dismissed war heroes as losers, said he didn't want to see amputees in a military parade and mocked a disabled journalist?
Trump has a family, of course. But unlike Biden, Walz, Bush and many other fathers, we would never consider him a family man.
