Former NBC Universal senior executive Mike Sington has come under fire from Republicans for a now-deleted tweet in which he stated that former President Donald Trump's youngest son, Barron, was "fair game" on his 18th birthday. The controversial comment has sparked outrage among GOP members, who have labeled Sington's statement as "creepy" and inappropriate.
Barron Trump, the only child of the former president and former first lady Melania Trump, turned 18 on Wednesday. The young Trump has largely stayed out of the spotlight, even as his father campaigns for the presidency once again. While Donald Trump and his adult children from previous marriages have often been the subject of media scrutiny and online criticism, Barron has managed to avoid such attention until now.
In his since-deleted post on X (formerly Twitter), Sington shared a photo of Donald and Barron Trump, writing, "Barron Trump turns 18 today. He's fair game now." The former NBC executive later clarified his statement to Newsweek, explaining that he meant Barron was now "fair game" for criticism from the press as an adult. Sington added that he removed the tweet after someone pointed out that "fair game" could be interpreted as meaning fair game to be harmed, which was not his intention.
Republicans were quick to express their disgust at Sington's comment. Garrett Ventry, former senior communications adviser to the Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans, called the tweet "super creepy." Michael R. Caputo, former assistant secretary of public affairs for the Department of Health and Human Services during the Trump administration, questioned Sington's motives and whether he had children or young relatives of his own.
Javon A. Price, a former aide to GOP Representative Byron Donalds, bluntly told Sington, "You sound like a creep dude." Brenden Dilley, host of the political talk show The Dilley Show, went even further, suggesting that Sington's comment had a "strong pedo vibe."
The controversy surrounding Sington's tweet has also brought to light his past comments about Barron Trump, which some have described as a "bizarre obsession." According to screenshots shared on social media, Sington had previously referred to Barron as "handsome" and suggested that he should be a model when the boy was just 13 years old. In another tweet from 2020, when Barron was 14, Sington wrote that he should be "gay" and "marry a guy from a s**t hole country."
Some social media users have slammed Sington for his history of tweets about the minor. Author and influencer Oli London highlighted the inappropriate nature of Sington's latest comment, while Anthony Hughes accused the former NBC executive of wanting to date Barron Trump. The popular Twitter account Libs of TikTok also weighed in, suggesting that Sington's "creepy obsession" with Barron Trump spans years.
This is not the first time that Barron Trump has been the target of mockery by liberal media figures and scholars. In December 2019, constitutional scholar Pamela Karlan made a joke about him during a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, prompting Melania Trump to say that Karlan "should be ashamed" of herself.
As Donald Trump continues his campaign for the 2024 presidential election, it remains to be seen whether Barron will face increased scrutiny from the media and public figures. The former president is currently the presumptive GOP nominee and is expected to face off against President Joe Biden in a rematch of the 2020 election.
Meanwhile, Melania Trump, who has also kept a low profile during this election cycle, recently joined her husband to cast their votes in Florida's primary. When asked if she would join Trump on the campaign trail, the former first lady cryptically replied, "Stay tuned," prompting speculation about her future involvement in the campaign.
