Melania Trump Son ‘Shooter’ Quip: Growing Support For Suspended ‘SNL’ Writer ‘Sickening’
A quip about Melania Trump’s son possibly being a future “shooter” tweeted by a Saturday Night Live writer resulted in her suspension. While some individuals supported SNL’s Katie Rich’s quip of Barron Trump, one media source is calling it cyberbullying and abusive.
First Lady Melania Trump’s son, Barron, became the target of Rich, who suggested Barron will become the country’s “first homeschooled shooter.” A writer with the Independent Journal Review detested the remarks and called the ensuing support “beyond sickening.”
The IJR chronicled the events aimed at Melania’s son that eventually led to Rich’s indefinite suspension from the longtime running comedy show. And while it said the SNL writer’s comments were “tasteless,” the site took a larger issue with the online support — particularly from Twitter “verified” accounts.
Fuck this, you did nothing wrong and I'm sorry you've been forced to send this tweet
— Jeremy Wein Is Engaged and In Japan (@thismyshow) January 24, 2017
“While most Americans across the spectrum agree that insulting a child is beyond-the-pale bad politics, that hasn’t fazed her supporters from ‘getting her back.'”
When news broke that Melania Trump’s son had come under attack by Rich’s homeschool shooter remarks, Chelsea Clinton and other celebrities joined the growing ire by expressing despair over the tweet. The former First Daughter understands the pain associated with being the child of a sitting POTUS. Clinton was often the target of mean-spirited attacks about her appearance; she wore braces at a time when kids were called names like “track-mouth.”
"SNL" writer Katie Rich was suspended indefinitely for tweet mocking Barron Trump https://t.co/SYszy28WCH pic.twitter.com/ZdVqodCrNq
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) January 23, 2017
Angry critics slammed Rich for suggesting that Barron would eventually reach a tipping point from Melania’s overprotective parenting style and become a mass shooter. Last month, Melania Trump threatened civil litigation over an unrelated YouTube video about her son being bullied, according to her attorney spokesperson, Charles Harder, citing a CSMonitor report.
There's nothing closer than a mom and her son (or in my case, sons)??.@FLOTUS @MELANIATRUMP and Barron #Sweet pic.twitter.com/0O0FblQe3h
— ?Pink Lady 4 Trump? (@pink_lady56) January 20, 2017
“The video allegedly seeks to ‘stop the bullying’ of Barron Trump. Not true…. The video did instigate further bullying by Rosie O’Donnell and others.”
SNL and Alec Baldwin have targeted Donald Trump repeatedly during and after his campaign for President of the United States. The New York billionaire, who often clashes with the franchise, calls the sketches “unfunny.” It’s important to point out that the late-night comedy showcase did not sanction Rich’s joke about Melania Trump’s son; they were her own.
As Inquisitr previously reported, Rich’s comments about Melania Trump’s son reached fever pitch on social media shortly after the writer’s attempt at humor. Shortly thereafter, an irate reader started a Change.org online petition (“NBC Fire Katie Rich“) for the writer’s ouster. It’s garnered over 100,000 signatures.
The petition described how Barron Trump — Melania and Donald’s only child together — is enrolled at New York’s prestigious Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School and is fluent in two languages. Moreover, the petition explains how First Lady Melania Trump wants to keep her son out of the limelight brought on by her husband’s celebrity.
“NBC needs to put their money where their mouth is and fire Katie Rich if they truly believe that there is no tolerance for bullying. Rich has yet to apologize to Barron and the Trump family for her horrific attack on a 10-year-old boy. A young boy who was put in the limelight because of who his father is.”
The Review says that the fallout over Rich’s “joke” is less about a debate over whether remarks of this type should result in a person getting terminated for a first offense or “one tweet” and more about the optics. The writer pointed out double standards.
“There is simply no imaginable way an SNL writer who cracked a ‘joke’ about Malia or Sasha Obama becoming a mass shooter would stay on the show — most Americans know it.”
[Featured Image by Joe Raedle/Getty Images]
