Conservative political commentator Ann Coulter faced a storm of criticism after tweeting a derogatory comment about Tim Walz’s son, Gus, calling him “weird.” The backlash was swift, with social media users resurfacing and sharing clips from a past roast that targeted Coulter, leading to their viral spread.
The controversy began when Gus Walz, 17, went viral for his emotional response to his father’s speech at the Democratic National Convention. Gus, the son of Kamala Harris’ running mate, stood with tears in his eyes, proudly applauding his father and telling others, “That’s my dad!” Coulter responded to this heartwarming moment by tweeting, “Talk about weird,” using the term Tim Walz had famously directed at Donald Trump and JD Vance, to insult the Minnesota governor’s son.
Coulter later deleted her tweet after an intense backlash, explaining, “I took it down as soon as someone told me he’s [autistic], but it’s Democrats who go around calling everyone weird thinking it’s hilariously funny.” Tim Walz and his wife, Gwen, had previously shared in an interview with People magazine that Gus was diagnosed as a teenager with a non-verbal learning disorder, an anxiety disorder, and ADHD.
Despite removing the post, Coulter did not issue a full apology. In a follow-up tweet, she stated that she was on vacation and had not felt pressured to take down the original tweet. “Democrats are the ones who decided it’s fine to call people ‘weird,’” she added.
In response to Coulter’s comments, some social media users sought revenge on Gus’s behalf by circulating clips from the 2016 Comedy Central Roast of Rob Lowe, where Coulter was one of the guests. Although the event was intended to poke fun at Lowe, much of the roast was directed at Coulter herself.
Comedian Pete Davidson called her a “racist c—,” while British comic Jimmy Carr referred to her as “one of the most repugnant, hateful, hatchet-faced b—es alive” and likened her to “a truck stop transvestite whore.” David Spade joked that Coulter was hoping Republicans could hold onto the House “so she can continue to haunt it,” and former NFL star Peyton Manning quipped that she “won the Kentucky Derby.” Singer Jewel, while distancing herself from the harshness of the remarks as a feminist, admitted, “As somebody that hates Ann Coulter, I’m delighted!”
When it was Coulter’s turn to speak at the roast, she opened with, “I want to welcome everybody to the Ann Coulter Roast With Rob Lowe,” but the night went downhill from there. The crowd booed as she attempted to promote her book, In Trump We Trust: E Pluribus Awesome! Lowe later remarked, “Ann, after your set tonight, we’ve all witnessed the first bombing that you can’t blame on a Muslim.”
Reflecting on the experience, Coulter told The Hollywood Reporter that she had “no idea” how she ended up on the show, saying it simply “showed up on my book publicity schedule.” When asked about the harsh jokes made at her expense, Coulter commented, “I don’t notice ‘mean,’ but I do notice ‘jokes,’ and I didn’t hear many of those until I took the mic!”
