Barron Trump's 18th Birthday Sparks Brutal Comparisons To Obama Sisters
An insensitive comment about Barron Trump when he turned 18 years old caused a maelstrom online as people debated the treatment of not only Donald Trump's son, but Barack Obama's daughters. The youngest son of Donald turned the age of majority on March 20 and had a low-key birthday with no major parties, or no announcements from his parents on social media. Even though he has shied from the limelight, many have been obsessed with Barron's personal life.
Former NBC executive Mike Sington mentioned the teenager's birthday in a since-deleted tweet that had Trump supporters up in arms. "Barron Trump turns 18 today. He's fair game now," Sington wrote on X, formerly Twitter (via Newsweek). After taking the tweet down, Sington explained the post. "I posted he was 'fair game' now, meaning, as an adult, he's 'fair game' for criticism from the press," he told Newsweek. Sington's tweet brought on a strong reaction from conservative-leaning X users. "So now they want to go after Barron Trump on his birthday?" one wrote on X. "[Y]our creepy obsession with him started well before today's tweet," an X user replied to Sington.
The discussion surrounding the treatment of Donald's son, led to discourse about Sasha Obama and Malia Obama's personal lives. "If Barron Trump didn't do anything wrong, leave him alone. Just like y'all need to leave Sasha and Malia alone. It's simple," one X user chimed in. That harkened back to when conservatives had some ugly moments discussing the Obama sisters during their father's presidency.
A GOP staffer's Facebook rant about the Obama daughters
The backlash over the Barron Trump discussion caused liberal-leaning X users to mention how Sasha Obama and Malia Obama were mistreated in the past. "[D]oes that mean we can now treat him the same way CONservatives treat/treated Sasha and Malia Obama, or is there a different standard," an X user wrote while mentioning the youngest Trump son turning 18 years old.
One particularly ugly moment came in November 2014, when Barack Obama was serving his second term as president. GOP staffer Elizabeth Lauten wrote a viral Facebook post about how the then-teenaged Obama daughters behaved at the turkey pardoning ceremony. "Act like being in the White House matters to you. Dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar," Lauten wrote on Facebook (via NBC News). That post caused serious backlash, and Lauten eventually stepped down from her position and issued an apology.
Unfortunately, it has not been a rare occurrence for children of the presidents of either party to catch stray shots from passionate political prognosticators. The relationship between Donald Trump and Barron was called into question by Food Network host John Henson who posted a snarky tweet in June 2020. "I hope Barron gets to spend today with whoever his dad is," Henson tweeted (via The Hill). That caused Melania Trump to issue a statement in defense of her only son. "Sadly we continue to see inappropriate and insensitive comments about the president's son [Barron Trump]," Stephanie Grisham, the then-first lady's spokesperson told The Hill at the time.