Now, this is a sticky one. A YouTube user, James Hunter, created a video. Hunter, who is on the autism spectrum himself, noticed how much Donald Trump’s 10-year-old son, Barron, was being bullied online. In an attempt to stop the bullies, Hunter pointed out in a YouTube video that it seemed Barron suffered from autism. In the video, Hunter showed clips of Barron clapping and not smiling— things that he said might be indicative of the disorder. He uploaded a video on November 11 with the title: “Is Barron Trump Autistic?” (The video has since been removed by YouTube, although you can see a copy of it here.)
After Hunter shared the video with some friends, Rosie O’Donnell (a longtime nemesis of Donald Trump) found it online and shared it. O’Donnell’s own three-year-old daughter was recently diagnosed with autism, and the TV personality tweeted the video to her followers in an attempt to bring attention to the disorder with the comment: “Barron Trump Autistic? If so – what an amazing opportunity to bring attention to the AUTISM epidemic.” (Rosie’s tweet has since been deleted.) Not surprisingly, a lot of people saw the video as a result, which led Melania Trump to threaten to sue the video’s creator, James Hunter, if he didn’t agree to take it off the Internet. What. A. Mess.
The Daily Mail reported:
Melania is not threatening to sue O’Donnell but has asked for the video to be taken down and an apology issued.
O’Donnell was forced to pen an emotional message to fans on her website on Saturday after her initial tweet speculating if Barron had autism sparked fury.
The comedian defended questioning if Barron was autistic by explaining that her own three-year-old daughter Dakota was diagnosed with the condition in September and she recognizes the signs.
Insisting that her post was ‘from the heart’, O’Donnell said it had ‘nothing’ to do with her old foe Donald Trump.
‘I have no ill will for his children or any children,’ said O’Donnell.
O’Donnell drew ire from critics online, who felt her tweet was in poor taste. You can read her response letter here.
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