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.
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.
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.
“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.”
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.
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.