Democratic strategist James Carville is honorably defending Gov. Tim Walz’s (D-Minn.) son.
While most were heartened to see 17-year-old Gus Walz crying of joy Wednesday as his father spoke at the Democratic National Convention, right-wing commentator Ann Coulter and radio jockey Jay Weber made fun of the boy — who has nonverbal learning disability.
“It started with Ann Coulter,” said Carville on the “Politicon” podcast Wednesday. “They started mocking him. Then there’s this guy, this subhuman is all I can think to call him by the name of Jay Weber, who is a talk show guy in Milwaukee.”
Coulter was indeed the first to mock Gus and reportedly shared a photo of him crying on social media with the caption: “Talk about weird…” She ultimately deleted this attempt to wield the Democrats’ criticism of her “weird” Republican Party back across the aisle.
Weber was far more egregious in his attack against Gus, and hasn’t been back on air since.
“Sorry, but this is embarrassing for both father and son,” the WISN-AM radio jockey wrote last week on X. “If the Walzs [sic] 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.’”
Nonverbal learning disorder affects a person’s spatial-visual skills and affects up to 2.9 million children and adolescents in North America, per a 2020 study. While the condition can hamper social skills or the ability to follow directions, it doesn’t directly affect intelligence.
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Weber claimed last week that he shared his inflammatory post “without thinking or having the facts,” suggesting he was unaware that Gus had the disorder. Carville acknowledged Wednesday that Weber deleted the post in regret, but remained dubious about the apology.
Carville argued the radio jockey’s regret at breaking “a standard of never involving children” had already been breached in 2015, when Weber mocked the then-underage daughter of former President Barack Obama. The 79-year-old strategist thus didn’t hold back.
“I’d like for him to answer just a question: Do you have human emotions?” Carville said Wednesday. “I mean, I know you sit there and run your fat fucking mouth all the time on Wisconsin radio. What is it about these teenagers or young people that you want to continually mock?”
While Carville moved on to other topics, social media users kept at it — and eviscerated Weber.