Here's Why You Rarely Saw Barron During Donald Trump's Presidency

When Donald Trump gave his final speech as the 45th President of the United States on Wednesday, January 20, his son, Barron Trump, was nowhere to be found. As the rest of the family, including Trump's wife Melania, his daughters Ivanka and Tiffany, and his sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, gathered at Joint Base Andrews for his final sendoff, Barron was missing in action (via Daily Mail). Many wondered why the 14-year-old was not in attendance during the momentous event and a firestorm of questions rang out on social media.

"Did they leave Barron inside?" one person asked on Twitter, giving a nod to their former home, The White House. "Did Trump just Home Alone Barron Trump? I didn't see him get on [Air Force One]. The Bidens better check the basement," said another.

Barron was also absent from the Trump family's Christmas card in 2017 and, as Eastbay Times reported, many accused his parents of a snub. Years later, it was alleged that Barron was left out of his family's annual Christmas Eve dinner (via Express).

"So where's the kid? Where's Baron? Does he not spend time with any of his children, when they are teenagers? It's Christmas, and you would think they would've showed off the kid," someone wrote in a tweet after the Trump family's 2019 celebration.

"Ok, where's Barron? Poor child at the White House on Christmas Eve with some aide watching him?" another person asked.

From the moment former President Donald Trump won the 2016 election against Hillary Clinton, Barron Trump, just 10 years old at the time, was subject to the harsh criticism and downright bullying that has become such a problem on social media.

As the Sun reported, it was 3 in the morning and Barron was obviously exhausted, and likely bored, like any kid his age would be, but the internet trolls, and likely some angry critics of the controversial election, took out their frustrations on the young Barron. According to the outlet, one Twitter user went so far as to comment, "Meanwhile #Barrontrump looking like Damien the #antichrist."

Sadly, it didn't stop there. Even celebrities seemed to bring Trump's youngest into the political commentary. Most notoriously, in a since deleted video, Rosie O'Donnell, without any prompting, speculated that Barron might have autism. Variety reported that the often outspoken O'Donnell, "shared a seven-minute video compiling clips from the Republican National Convention, the presidential debates, and Trump's acceptance speech that suggested 10-year-old Barron might be showing signs of autism." At the time she claimed she raised the issue because her own daughter was on the spectrum and she doubled down on a since deleted tweet defending her controversial video, "what an amazing opportunity to bring attention to the AUTISM epidemic" (via CBS).

Regardless of Rosie O'Donnell's motivation, bringing a minor into the conversation was inappropriate and she was quickly chided for her lapse in judgment.

Chelsea Clinton was one of Barron Trump's most fervent defenders, at the time, and her ability to put aside her partisan beliefs and see the harm bringing Barron into the limelight could do, likely came from first hand experience. In a tweet from August of 2017, Clinton demanded, "It's high time the media & everyone leave Barron Trump alone & let him have the private childhood he deserves." She added a link to her tweet featuring an article in the Daily Caller that was critical of Barron's appearance and dress.

Melania Trump was obviously well aware of the online bullying and criticism of her only child and she quickly took to twitter to thank Chelsea Clinton for her support, writing, "Thank you @ChelseaClinton – so important to support all of our children in being themselves!" She concluded the tweet with the hashtag, "#StopChildhoodBullying."

It was less than a year later that the former FLOTUS launched her "Be Best" campaign, which, according to the New York Times, would focus on mental health issues in young people with a focus on social media bullying.

While the exact reason behind Barron's absences may never be disclosed, they could simply be the result of his parents, especially mom Melania, wanting to keep him protected.

As some might recall, Melania was forced to speak out against professor Pamela Karlon in December 2019 after she used Barron as an example while testifying against Trump during the House's impeachment hearings in an apparent effort to explain that Trump was not a king and could not do whatever he wanted (via Fox News).

"The president can name his son Barron, he can't make him a baron," she stated.

Following Karlon's statement, Melania fired back at the professor on Twitter. "A minor child deserves privacy and should be kept out of politics. Pamela Karlan, you should be ashamed of your very angry and obviously biased public pandering, and using a child to do it," Melania wrote.

A short time later, Karlon offered a public apology for her comments about Barron.

"I want to apologize for what I said earlier about the president's son. It was wrong of me to do that," she said. "I wish the president would apologize, obviously, for the things that he has done that's wrong, but I do regret having said that."