After Melania Trump threw her own form of a Trumpertantrum and threatened to sue over a video that has circulated the web which speculated about President-elect Donald Trump’s son Barron possibly being autistic, the creator of the video has stated that it will be taken down.
James Hunter, the YouTube user who created and shared the video, recently posted a timeline of events on his YouTube page discussing his reasoning for creating the video and his reactions to the Trump attorney contacting him about the suit. Hunter stated:
“Published on Nov 11, 2016
Donald Trump’s youngest son Barron Trump might be autistic, and it’s time for people to stop bullying him for his “strange” behavior. Let’s follow Melania Trump and #StopTheBullying.
➳ NOVEMBER 27 UPDATE
I want to clear a few things up:
1) Yes, I myself am on the spectrum, and I made this because I instantly noticed the symptoms I had as a kid in Barron. I saw social media bullying him, and I wanted people to STOP and understand what he’s going through.
2) This video is NOT meant to fuel the theory that vaccines cause autism. I’m simply trying to explain WHY Trump might believe in this theory.
3) I’m aware Rosie O’Donnell has been getting criticized for sharing this video. I’m sending a million prayers to her and her beautiful family, and I really wish the media would stop attacking her for wanting to learn.
➳ NOVEMBER 28 UPDATE
TMZ just contacted me to tell me Melania Trump is threatening a lawsuit over this video and wants a public apology from me. I’m absolutely terrified right now, and I’m not sure if this is actually true or not.
I just want to repeat myself and say that I never ever meant this as a bullying video. As someone who was diagnosed at age 5 and has gone through bullying myself, I would NEVER do something like that. I made this because I truly believed Barron was on the spectrum, and I wanted people to stop bullying him over his “weird” behavior and explain to them that it might actually be due to a condition.
If this rumor turns out to be true, and Ms.Trump really wants this video deleted, I will. I have a great respect for her and her family. I never meant to hurt anyone.
I’ve been in contact with Melania Trump’s lawyer. This video will be deleted in 24 hours, and I will publish a full retraction and apology to Melania and Barron Trump.”
From the looks of it and Hunter’s own spectrum diagnosis, he meant the video to be an eye-opening account that could be used to stop the bullying that was already directed at Barron Trump. However, Melania saw it a different way and Trump’s attorney stated:
“This law firm represents First Lady–elect Melania Trump and her 10-year-old son, Barron Trump. A video was posted on YouTube recently speculating that Barron might be autistic. He is not. The video includes the hashtag ‘StopTheBullying’ but yet the video itself is bullying by making false statements and speculation about a 10-year-old boy for the purpose of harassing him and his parents. The online bullying of children, including Barron Trump, should end now.”
It seems that even after Hunter posted his heartfelt encouragement to stop bullying Barron, the Trump family continued painting him in a negative light, ultimately accusing him of harassment.
Instead of threatening to sue, why couldn’t the Trump family come forward and address the issue in a classy and tasteful way? Approaching the subject of autism, whether Barron is diagnosed or not would show the country that it is an important issue facing this country. Instead, they painted autism as a tragedy, making it seem as if Barron had autism, it would be a terrible thing that could be used to embarrass someone.
Being autistic is just another characteristic of our species, it is not something that should be shown as a negative trait but what did we really expect from the Trump family.
Featured Image Via The Federalist Papers Project
