Back in early December, Stanford Law professor Pamela Karlan made a pretty good joke during impeachment hearings, as she was making the point that Donald Trump is not a king: “While the president can name his son Barron, he can’t make him a baron.”
It got some chuckles in the House Judiciary Committee hearing room. It was effective, clever, and poked just a little bit of fun at Trump for giving his son such a pretentious moniker.
But in the Trump camp, the simple mention of Trump’s minor child’s name was immediately seized upon as an opportunity to gin up faux outrage and create a bad-faith distraction from the serious Constitutional issues raised by Karlan and her colleagues about Trump’s abuse of power and Congress’ obligation to act.
Within minutes, GOP “Rapid Response Director” Steve Guest had tweeted that Karlan was “UNHINGED”:
Democrat "witness" Pamela Karlan is completely UNHINGED.
She is now attacking @realDonaldTrump [1]'s 13 year old son Barron Trump in an attempt to smear President Trump.#StopTheMadness [2] #JerryRigged [3] pic.twitter.com/4aktNR2Tps [4]
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) December 4, 2019 [5]
Unhinged? Seriously? Isn’t that being a bit dramatic? Even Melania Trump tweeted about it, which is something she rarely does.
A minor child deserves privacy and should be kept out of politics. Pamela Karlan, you should be ashamed of your very angry and obviously biased public pandering, and using a child to do it.
— Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) December 4, 2019 [6]
It was a joke. A rather funny joke as well. I mean, it’s not like Karlan was discussing 13-year-old Barron’s sex life.
Which is just what one conservative did Sunday morning.
Jesse Kelly, a conservative writer for The Federalist, tweeted a video of the Trump family leaving the White House on Friday and made a rather odd comment about young Barron’s height.
Kelly tweeted, “When exactly did Barron turn into an NBA power forward? That kid is gonna MASSACRE the chicks in high school.
“I’m 6’10 and my dad is the most powerful man in the world. I’m taking you to prom. And your mother.”
Ummm, what?
WHERE ARE THE OUTRAGE POLICE??
When exactly did Barron turn into an NBA power forward? That kid is gonna MASSACRE the chicks in high school.
“I’m 6’10 and my dad is the most powerful man in the world. I’m taking you to prom. And your mother.” https://t.co/lIpgy7qA1s [7]
— Jesse Kelly (@JesseKellyDC) January 17, 2020 [8]
As you could imagine, Twitter was quick to display its disgust:
These people are drooling over a child, which is very normal. https://t.co/6rxsZD8gFu [9]
— Eyes on the Right (@EyesOnTheRight) January 19, 2020 [10]
It is now okay to discuss the minor children provided we frame these conversations in the context of slaying puss. https://t.co/QtL7Mn0jpO [11]
— Wassailing Dixie (@biffyb) January 19, 2020 [12]
It's not okay to make jokes about Barron unless you're a Republican daydreaming about him getting statutory raped. https://t.co/fj0XuwCvVI [13]
— Zach Heltzel (@zachheltzel) January 19, 2020 [14]
.@FLOTUS [15] will you condone this?
.@JesseKellyDC [16] Please define MASSACRE the chicks in HS? What are you implying? Follow Daddy's same disregard for women & grab their P*ssies?
.@WhiteHouse [17] https://t.co/zxKgxezfu5 [18]— RogueMosaique🌊🌊🌊 (@mosaique813) January 19, 2020 [19]
Which night will @seanhannity [20] and all of the other Fox friends be MASSACRING Jesse and the entire @GOP [21] over this statement? #BeBest [22] https://t.co/du5H8si6xE [23]
— Steen (@FionaBainsky) January 19, 2020 [24]
Right wing media- "don't ever talk about barron trump, ever"
Also right wing media – "13 year old barron is gonna crush so much pussy" https://t.co/iWHEvugSn5 [25]
— Rob 🍗 (@foodguyrob) January 19, 2020 [26]
Why is he expressing sexual fantasies about 13-year-olds? Did he think only Coach Jim Jordan was reading his tweets? https://t.co/ddVXHs9fhE [27]
— Spock Therapy (@spocktherapy) January 19, 2020 [28]
This is a really creepy way to talk about children. And at 13, Barron Trump is just that, a child. Don't do this. https://t.co/GX6wUQFAVM [29]
— Tiffany Elste (@tmelste) January 19, 2020 [30]