(The Hill) — Chelsea Clinton defended Barron Trump Friday, saying that since he is a private citizen and not involved politically, he should be left alone.
When asked on ABC’s “The View” how the press should cover former President Trump’s son after he turned 18 this week, Clinton argued he had an “unimpeachable right to privacy.”
“Yesterday Barron Trump turned 18. There was a debate on social media, I saw it on TV, where some people are saying, ‘OK, he’s now an adult. He’s now 18. He’s now fair game. He’s no longer a child.’ He’s largely stayed out of the spotlight. He is not involved, so different from his siblings,” “The View” co-host Ana Navarro said before asking Clinton, “How do you feel about it?”
Clinton pushed back that the media should “leave him alone.”
“I think he’s a private citizen,” she answered. “I feel so strongly that if you are a private citizen, you have an unimpeachable right to privacy and I think the media should leave him alone.”
Navarro’s inquiry came after former NBC senior executive Mike Sington sparked the debate in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. Sington wrote that “Barron Trump turns 18 today. He’s fair game now.”
Sington explained his now-deleted post in a statement to Newsweek, saying “I posted he was ‘fair game’ now, meaning, as an adult, he’s ‘fair game’ for criticism from the press.”
“Someone pointed out to me ‘fair game’ could mean fair game to be harmed,” he said. “I don’t wish physical harm on anyone, so I took it down. I listen to the comments and criticism I receive.”
After Clinton’s reply to Navarro, Co-host Joy Behar asked if the same applies to Trump’s other children, like Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr.
Clinton said because the three were “campaign surrogates” at one point for their father — the likely GOP nominee for president — it’s a “totally different conversation.”