Barron Trump Impeachment Hearing Controversy

Overview

Barron Trump Impeachment Hearing Controversy refers to the reaction to a comment made by Professor Pamela Karlan that referenced United States President Donald Trump's son Barron during her testimony in the Trump Impeachment Inquiry. She said, "The president can name his son Barron, he can't make him a baron." The comment spurred a backlash from the president's supporters and his wife Melania, leading to an apology from Karlan.

Background

On December 4th, 2019, Professor Pamela Karlan testified in the impeachment inquiry into President Trump. During her testimony, she said, "The president can name his son Barron, he can't make him a baron" (shown below).^[1]

Developments

House Judiciary Response

Following the comments, Florida Republican Representative Matt Gaetz objected to the comments. He said, "Let me also suggest that when you invoke the President's son's name here, when you try to make a little joke out of referencing Barron Trump, that does not lend credibility to your argument. It makes you look mean. It makes you look like you're attacking someone's family, the minor child of the president of the United States."

Melania Trump's Response

Following the comments, First Lady Melania Trump tweeted,^[2] "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." The post received more than 300,000 likes and 83,000 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below).

Karlan's Apology

Towards the end of her testimony, Karlan apologized for her comments. She said, "I want to apologize for what I said earlier about the President's son, it was wrong of me to do that. I wish the President would apologize, obviously, for the things he's done that's wrong, but I do regret having said that."^[3]

Online Reaction

Some objected to Karlan's comments. White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham tweeted,^[4] "Classless move by a Democratic 'witness'. Prof Karlan uses a teenage boy who has nothing to do with this joke of a hearing (and deserves privacy) as a punchline. And what’s worse, it’s met by laughter in the hearing room. What is being done to this country is no laughing matter." The tweet received more than 37,000 likes and 10,000 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below, left).

However, others argued that this was an example of a nontroversy. Twitter^[5] user @OhNoSheTwitnt wrote, "Shocked that all the tough guys who attacked a little girl for speaking out about climate change and threatened school shooting survivors for promoting gun control are outraged at someone for pointing out that Barron and baron are pronounced the same." The tweet received more than 12,000 likes and 2,300 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below, center)

Twitter^[6] user @tonyposnanski tweeted, "Calling minor Trayvon Martin a 'thug' is a lie and an insult. Calling minor Greta Thunberg a 'freak' is a lie and an insult. Calling minor Chelsea Clinton a 'dog' is a lie and an insult. Saying minor Barron isn’t a baron is a fucking factual statement. Fuck your fake outrage." Within 24 hours, the tweet received more than 9,700 likes and 2,400 retweets (shown below, right).

Search Interest

Not Available.

External References