Judging by the reaction to a “Saturday Night Live” writer’s tweet over the weekend, one norm of American politics remains unshakable: The children of presidents should be off limits.
It is a rule that has been cited — and sometimes broken — through a succession of first daughters. Now, for the first time in more than half a century, the president has a young son.
Shortly after President Trump took the oath of office on Friday, a comedy writer for “S.N.L.,” Katie Rich, tweeted what was intended to be a joke about Barron Trump and school shootings, prompting a barrage of criticism. Within a few hours, Ms. Rich deleted the tweet and locked down her Twitter account, but it remained a topic on social media all weekend.
By Monday afternoon, it was announced that Ms. Rich had been suspended indefinitely. She posted an apology on her Twitter account, which was again made public.
One of the most prominent reactions to the controversy came on Sunday from a former first daughter, Chelsea Clinton, who wrote a Facebook post imploring that Barron, 10, be left alone.
“Barron Trump deserves the chance every child does – to be a kid,” Ms. Clinton wrote in a post that received more than 105,000 reactions and was shared close to 9,000 times, as others re-circulated her message on their own feeds.
“Standing up for every kid also means opposing POTUS policies that hurt kids,” Ms. Clinton added.
Commenters agreed. A typical reply: “Many did not give the same respect to the Obama children, which made me so sad. I will give respect to Barron because he deserves it no matter what his father does.”
It was a rare point of agreement across the political spectrum on social media over a weekend during which hundreds of thousands of people marched to protest the new administration.
Trump supporters were particularly upset. Multiple online petitions called on NBC to fire Ms. Rich and had amassed more than 80,000 signatures by Monday morning. Mr. Trump has been quick to criticize “S.N.L.” in the past, but this time he and the White House made no comment.
Though Barron will be in New York for at least several more months to finish his school year, he will be the first young boy in the White House since John F. Kennedy Jr. John-John, as he was known then, and his older sister, Caroline, a toddler, were treated gently, and one of his most famous moments was when he was photographed playing under his father’s desk. (The New York Times)