Emotional
At the 2024 Democratic National Convention, and a party working hard to make “not going back” the message, after the Obamas left the stage, it felt a lot like 2008.
But while Barack and Michelle stole the show, Gus Walz stole our hearts with a viral moment of him shouting at the stage, “That’s my dad!” as Tim Walz accepted the party’s vice presidential nomination.
Then the pundits started to weigh in.
Childless Cat Lady Ann Coulter called it weird in a now-deleted tweet she explained but didn’t apologize for.
And then there’s Jay Weber, an AM radio host in Wisconsin.
"Sorry, but this is embarrassing for both father and son," Weber wrote. "If the Walzs represent today's American man, this country is screwed; 'Meet my son, Gus. He's a blubbering bitch boy. His mother and I are very proud.'"
Weber — a radio host for 1130 WISN-AM whose show has featured prominent GOP politicians and operatives — deleted his post after facing online criticism.
"I didn't realize the kid was disabled, and have taken the post down," Weber wrote.
First off, didn’t realize AM radio still existed.
Secondly, what’s troubling about Weber’s response is that, to him, for a young man to have a public emotional response to his father makes him less of a man somehow.
Says more about Weber’s side of the aisle than it says about Weber himself.
Based on the Republican National Convention, there’s an acceptable scale for public male emotion, and it ranges from loathing to hatred.
That it’s OK to shout “That’s my President” with the kind of fervor reserved for North Korean dictators, but it’s not ok to be so overwhelmed with joy at the accomplishments of someone you love that you burst into tears.
The GOP stands for many things, all of them laid out in the 900+ page Project 2025, but mostly they stand for control.
Of our choices, of our bodies, of our…tears.