White House calls Democratic witness’s mentioning of president’s youngest son ‘classless’

by Rachel Frazin - 12/04/19 3:46 PM ET

The White House criticized Stanford law professor Pamela Karlan for mentioning President Trump’s son, Barron, during a Wednesday impeachment hearing, calling the remark “classless.”

Karlan – while explaining the president’s rights under Article 2 of the Constitution during the House Judiciary Committee hearing – quipped that Trump can name his son Barron, but can’t give him a noble title.

{mosads}”Contrary to what President Trump has said, Article 2 does not give him the power to do anything he wants, and I’ll just give you one example that shows you the difference between him and a king, which is, the Constitution says there can be no titles of nobility, so while the president can name his son Barron, he can’t make him a baron,” she said.

This remark, which prompted laughter in the room, was met with criticism from the White House, Trump’s reelection campaign and other Republicans.

“Classless move by a Democratic ‘witness,'” tweeted White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham.

“Prof Karlan uses a teenage boy who has nothing to do with this joke of a hearing (and deserves privacy) as a punchline. And what’s worse, it’s met by laughter in the hearing room,” she added.

Classless move by a Democratic “witness”. Prof Karlan uses a teenage boy who has nothing to do with this joke of a hearing (and deserves privacy) as a punchline. And what’s worse, it’s met by laughter in the hearing room. What is being done to this country is no laughing matter.

— Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) December 4, 2019

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) called the remark “absolutely disgraceful” while Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) tweeted that the comment was “gross and shameful.”

“Just when you thought this impeachment hoax couldn’t get anymore ridiculous, the witness invited by Democrats is throwing cheap shots at the 13 year old son of @realDonaldTrump,” Gosar wrote.

Democrats are so desperate that one of their biased witnesses is now attacking the President’s 13-year-old son.

Absolutely disgraceful.

— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) December 4, 2019

Just when you thought this impeachment hoax couldn’t get anymore ridiculous, the witness invited by Democrats is throwing cheap shots at the 13 year old son of @realDonaldTrump. Gross and shameful! pic.twitter.com/ugVZfVYDR9

— Rep. Paul Gosar, DDS (@RepGosar) December 4, 2019

Trump’s reelection campaign questioned why it has been scrutinized for its criticism of Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden’s adult son Hunter Biden, but that Barron could be mentioned.

“So Hunter Biden is off limits, but 13 year old Barron Trump is not? This gets more unreal by the minute!” the campaign wrote.

So Hunter Biden is off limits, but 13 year old Barron Trump is not?

This gets more unreal by the minute!

— Team Trump (@TeamTrump) December 4, 2019

“Only in the minds of crazed liberals is it funny to drag a 13-year-old child into the impeachment nonsense,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany added in a statement.

“Pamela Karlan thought she was being clever and going for laughs, but she instead reinforced for all Americans that Democrats have no boundaries when it comes to their hatred of everything related to President Trump. Hunter Biden is supposedly off-limits according to liberals, but a 13-year-old boy is fair game,” she said.

“Every Democrat in Congress should immediately repudiate Pamela Karlan and call on her to personally apologize to the President and the First Lady for mocking their son on national TV.”

President Trump’s eldest child, Donald Trump Jr., also weighed in, calling the comment “vile.”

“How vile of a person do you have to be to attack a 13 year old child on national TV for laughs?” he tweeted. “Apparently, vile enough to be the supposed star witness for Democrats.”

How vile of a person do you have to be to attack a 13 year old child on national TV for laughs?

Apparently, vile enough to be the supposed star witness for Democrats.

Grotesque. https://t.co/duljFjieWI

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) December 4, 2019

Later in the hearing, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) also confronted Karlan to her face about the comment.

“It does not lend credibility to your argument. It makes you look mean. It makes you look like you’re attacking someone’s family,” he said.

She did not offer a response at the time but later apologized for the remark.

“I want to apologize for what I said earlier about the president’s son. It was wrong of me to do that. I wish the president would apologize, obviously, for the things that he’s done that’s wrong, but I do regret having said that,” Karlan said at the hearing.

The House Judiciary Committee held its first impeachment hearing Wednesday, which featured Karlan and three other constitutional scholars. The White House declined to participate in the hearing.

Trump has denied wrongdoing as the House undertakes an impeachment inquiry into his dealings with Ukraine.

–Updated at 6:19 p.m.