Donald Trump's "She’s Got a Son" Gaffe

Overview

Donald Trump's "She’s Got a Son" Gaffe refers a public mistake made by United States President Donald Trump, who accidentally referred to his son Baron as Melania's son. While speaking about his wife Melania, he said, "She's got a song--together." Many online joked that Trump had forgotten that Baron was also his son.

Background

On September 11th, 2019, President Trump held a press conference regarding proposed ban of flavored e-cigarettes to fight teen smoking. During his words, he said of Melania's role in the campaign, "That’s how the first lady got involved. She’s got a son--together--that is a beautiful young man" (shown below).

Developments

Online Reaction

Following the comments, people online mocked the president for seemingly forgetting that Baron was also his son. Twitter^[1] user @atrupar tweeted the video with the caption, "Trump indicates that his drive against vaping came at the behest of Melania. He then describes his son Barron in a very odd way." Within 24 hours, the tweet received more than 2.3 million views, 10,000 likes and 3,400 retweets (shown below, left).

Twitter^[2] user @TrueFactsStates wrote, " He forgot and had to catch himself. His frontal lobe is melting." The tweet received more than 3,400 likes and 900 retweets in 24 hours (shown below, center).

Twitter^[3] user @RexHuppke tweeted a Trump Yelling at Lawn-mowing Boy with the caption, "DO NOT VAPE! MY WIFE IS WORRIED ABOUT HER SON BARRON WHO MIGHT ALSO BE MY SON I THINK IF SO HE'S FANTASTIC!" Within 24 hours, the tweet received more than 5,500 likes and 800 retweets (shown below, right).

Media Coverage

That evening, several late-night talk show hosts mocked the president's comments. A segment from The late Show with Stephen Colbert featured the host joking about the president's memory. The post received more than 785,000 views in 24 hours (shown below).

Additionally, The Daily Show's Trevor Noah's also mocked the president. When posted to Twitter, the clip received more than 6,600 likes and 1,300 retweets in 24 hours (shown below).

Search Interest

External References