Barron Trump Outshines His Siblings At 2024 RNC Despite Ditching Convention
The 2024 Republican National Convention saw Donald Trump give his entire family a shout out, but there could be no denying that he lingered a little on one of his kids' names. That would be Barron Trump — yes, even though he skipped the event.
Not keen to sit through Donald's record-breaking 92-minute speech? We'll sum it up for ya. In his mention of his family, Donald thanked all his kids and their partners for being there, before giving a more pointed nod to his youngest son. "And Barron — we love our Barron," he quipped in a playfully macho voice, pointing to the recent high school graduate's popularity (via The Wall Street Journal). Cue massive applause from the audience, and most of Barron's siblings cracking up. Tiffany Trump, who is especially close with Barron, laughed out loud almost immediately, followed closely by Ivanka and Eric Trump. Donald Trump Jr., meanwhile, looked a little salty, barely cracking a smile.
It's possible Don Jr.'s reaction stemmed from the fact that this wasn't the first time his dad joked about Barron being more popular than his half-siblings. Au contraire, a few days ahead of the RNC, Donald had poked fun at that at a Miami rally. "He might be more popular than Don and Eric. We've got to talk about that. Hey Don, we've got to talk about this, huh?" he jokingly taunted (via Forbes Breaking News). Eric stood to give Barron a standing ovation; Don Jr. notably remained seated.
Barron was initially meant to be at the RNC, but pulled out
It's possible Donald Trump decided to give Barron Trump such a big shout out to shut down any speculation over why his youngest child wasn't in attendance. After all, it's no secret that initially, Barron was meant to be there. In fact, Barron seemingly confirmed what many thought of his political views when he was listed as a Florida delegate for the Republican National Convention back in May. However, within days, his mother's office shared that that was no longer the case. Melania Trump's team told the press, "While Barron is honored to have been chosen as a delegate by the Florida Republican Party, he regretfully declines to participate due to prior commitments" (via AP).
Given how big a deal it would have been for Barron to be part of Florida's delegation, we wonder what the prior commitment was. That said, there have long been theories that Melania is fearful for Barron's loss of privacy as an adult, so something tells us she was only too happy to write him an absence note.
Either way, it's plain to see that even without being at the RNC, Barron is a Trump family fan-favorite. Someone check on Donald Trump Jr.