Earlier today, we told you about how Mike Sington, a former executive at NBC/Universal, wrote on Twitter/X that ‘Barron Trump turns 18 today. He’s fair game now.’ He deleted the post, but we at Twitchy are pretty good about capturing screenshots when a post is likely to be deleted, and this time was no exception:
Later, he got Newsweek to run a rapid response for him:
I address the Barron Trump “fair game” post. https://t.co/kYeOCau5di
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) March 20, 2024
The headline is not quite a ‘Republicans pounce' variant, but it’s got the vibe:
‘Barron Trump 'Fair Game' Comment Enrages Republicans’
Frankly, it enrages any human whose moral compass isn’t completely blinkered by politics. We have no doubt that if you asked ten random Democrats on the streets, they would say what Sington said was wrong. So, to pretend that only Republicans are upset by this is deceptive at best.
In any case, he’s been in Newsweek’s direct messages and this is what he had to say for himself:
Sington told Newsweek via X direct message on Wednesday: ‘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. I don't wish physical harm on anyone, so I took it down. I listen to the comments and criticism I receive.’
Which is a bit of a misrepresentation of the controversy. What it actually sounded like to most people is that he was saying that Barron was romantically fair game for creepy old guys like him because he reached the age of consent. Shiver. There are, after all, weird people who will absolutely say exactly that, as referenced in this listicle:
(Jump ahead to about the 7:50 mark if you don’t want to listen to the whole thing.)
Mind you, we aren't saying that Sington definitely was speaking about the age of consent, but more than a few people interpreted it that way, as demonstrated in our prior coverage.
Of course, even Sington’s explanation is not good enough. Family—including people only related by marriage (including spouses)—should be off limits, unless they do something to affirmatively make themselves fair game. We have held to that principle, even when dealing with incredibly despicable people. So, to pick someone related to a less-despicable person, we defended Michelle Obama from attacks for years because she really hasn’t done more than the usual first lady stuff. By comparison, Hillary Clinton always pitched herself as co-president to Bill Clinton, so she was always fair game. And the same goes for children. Barron has always been off limits. And it seems that Tiffany Trump also is off limits—she really doesn’t get involved very much in her dad’s politics. But we can’t think of another Trump child who has stayed out of the political fray enough to be off limits—though we are open to being corrected.
And before someone asks, Hunter Biden is fair game for two reasons. First, there is strong evidence that Hunter has been the recipient of special treatment at the hands of federal law enforcement. For instance, there is evidence that when Hunter Biden lost a gun, the Secret Service—which wasn’t even supposed to be protecting him at the time—intervened to retrieve the gun:
Recommended
Is the entire system this rotten? “Sources: Secret Service inserted itself into case of Hunter Biden’s gun” https://t.co/1UOq3TWHQi
— Tammy Bruce (@HeyTammyBruce) March 26, 2021
And naturally, that isn’t the only example of suspected criminality by Hunter, where he was treated inexplicably differently than ordinary citizens. The next time a leftist says that no one is above the law, remind them of Hunter. If he didn’t want to be a valid target of criticism, he should demand that his father treat him just like any other citizen.
We explained the second reason why Hunter is fair game last September:
We have said for a while that we have reached the point where we know what was happening, every person who is not naïve knows what was happening, but we cannot absolutely prove it. This was bribery. They would pay Hunter Biden and Joe Biden would get a percentage. In return, they would ask Hunter Biden to get his father to do things, and Hunter would do that. We doubt the conversation was ever as explicit as ‘Dad, I need you to get this prosecutor fired, or Burisma will stop paying us.’ Maybe it was just that Hunter would pay his dad regularly, and just ask his father to do certain things as a public official, and his dad would just do it. Hunter might not say it was in exchange for all the money he was getting. And the people bribing him might not even say it explicitly. Joe Biden might just know if he didn't do these things, the money would stop. We might have trouble proving this arrangement, but everyone who didn’t just fall off the turnip truck knows this is what was going on.
Being a suspected conduit for his father’s bribery is a second reason why he is fair game. If he didn’t want to be a valid target of criticism, he should have avoided any appearance of impropriety. That means telling Burisma ‘no,’ for instance.
So, are we clear on this? Barron Trump wasn’t just off limits because he was young, but because he really didn’t do anything to make him fair game.
And Sington’s explanation really doesn’t track with his own online behavior. We will credit Twitter/X user @DamianJ54874907 for giving us a tip off that led us to search for every time Sington used the word Barron in a post because … crikey! The dude is obsessed with Barron Trump.
First Kid? Rare photo of 9 year old Barron Trump, son of #MelaniaTrump (pictured) and #DonaldTrump. pic.twitter.com/MeZz6pI3gy
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) February 24, 2016
Barron Trump is cool. pic.twitter.com/DktnpuYJmm
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) June 17, 2017
First Son Barron Trump celebrates his twelfth birthday today. Let’s take a look back: pic.twitter.com/6PaGBserLe
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) March 20, 2018
So … is this when he set his calendar to know when he turns 18? Shivers.
The First Lady and First Son Barron literally laugh behind the clueless President’s back. pic.twitter.com/VqezeLZ6CO
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) April 2, 2018
There are only two Trumps in the world that don’t annoy me: Barron and Tiffany.
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) October 6, 2018
He's also going to act like he is annoyed with Tiffany, too.
First Son Barron’s back! He hasn’t been seen since August. Here he is with his loving parents, headed to Mar-a-Lago for Thanksgiving. pic.twitter.com/hq5THIPTiP
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) November 20, 2018
Melania Trump on what she tells her 12 year old son Barron about drugs: “I always tell him drugs can be very dangerous and mess up your mind and body. And to love yourself more than you love drugs.” I think if I was their son, I’d be stoned 24 hours a day. pic.twitter.com/5L8yz7HJO5
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) November 28, 2018
Like a Sasquatch sighting! Photographic proof First Son Barron Trump exists. Here he is (center) at a Christmas party in the White House. pic.twitter.com/613ylSnjnf
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) December 11, 2018
No surprise here. Our “stable genius” President who went to the “best schools”, doesn’t know the difference between “there” and “their”. Maybe Barron could proofread his tweets? https://t.co/RhlNvpv9Wg
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) December 20, 2018
Another cover up! Trump has had a bloody bandage on his hand since last Thursday. Sarah (Zero Credibility) Sanders says he sustained the injury while playing with his son Barron. HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A PHOTO OF TRUMP PLAYING WITH HIS SON? It’s more likely he punched a staff member. pic.twitter.com/axEXxvrtX7
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) January 15, 2019
Has it ever occurred to him that some things happen off camera?
Barron is actually smarter than anyone ever thought. pic.twitter.com/5pApuXAytF
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) April 15, 2019
An obvious photoshop is obvious. And is anyone else creeped out, yet?
Rare photos of First Son Barron, with the Trump’s. Oh, and the family’s designer luggage coming off Air Force One. pic.twitter.com/xuDQmFGCrN
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) August 19, 2019
Chris Hansen voice: Why are you so interested in photos of Barron, Mike?
Still, so far Mike has not attacked Barron. We suppose you might get offended by the comparison to Sasquatch, but we think it is more of a complaint that we don’t see Barron in front of cameras. You know, because he’s just a kid!
But now he is starting to say things that could be hurtful to Barron if he read them:
Not sure why people are surprised Trump said “she’s (Melania) got a son (Barron)”. Maybe he’s not the father! He and Melania have separate bedrooms at White House and Mar-a-Lago. We only know for sure Trump has slept with porn stars and Playboy bunnies since he married Melania. pic.twitter.com/YXxpd2uppU
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) September 12, 2019
And we skipped over this one earlier…
Melania Trump finds something to do! Walks outside the White House alone, greets horse drawn carriage carrying Christmas tree, goes back into White House. pic.twitter.com/G9i4CSL9L1
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) November 26, 2019
But in responding to a suspended account, he writes:
Barron doesn’t exist.
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) November 26, 2019
Like, does he think Barron Trump is a hoax, that the person in the photos is just an actor or something?
First Son could be a model! A very fashionable Barron towers over his father, who is 6’3”. pic.twitter.com/WQkftS1XEY
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) November 27, 2019
He’s saying a thirteen-year-old could be a model. Nope, nothing creepy about that.
Barron cries for help. Trump tries to stop him. pic.twitter.com/9KqNls7un1
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) December 2, 2019
I wonder how Melania is going to react to this? There’s a screenplay being shopped around Hollywood about Barron Trump trying to sabotage his father’s presidency. https://t.co/p6RYkz0Qnh
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) December 17, 2019
First Son Barron Trump, 13, now towers over his father who is 6 feet, 3 inches tall. pic.twitter.com/nxMmvsRAlG
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) January 17, 2020
I can’t stand her...she literally turns my stomach. See if you can get through this entire video. I guarantee you can’t. This entire family is revolting and has to go. Well, maybe Barron’s a cool kid, I feel sorry for him. #IvankaTrump #complicit https://t.co/iUK0yyHlH5
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) June 7, 2020
We guess he changed his mind on Tiffany.
Wait a minute, your step mother, the trophy wife, the one your father cheated on with a porn star, Melania, said Barron was “off-limits”. Expect icy stares from her. Of course, that’s all she does. Maybe Daddy will cut you off, except he doesn’t know who Barron is. https://t.co/AQahbHUHeJ
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) July 15, 2020
Don’t let the irony get lost on you. As Trump insists schools reopen, Barron Trump’s school says it won’t reopen.
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) July 24, 2020
He fixates on this issue several times, but it's not like Trump owned the school. We won’t name the school, but a little Googling tells us that he went to a private, church-based school, that is in a region locals call ‘Southern Maryland’—although it really refers to the counties just outside of D.C. So, Donald Trump couldn’t make them open if he wanted them to, and, therefore, there is no possibility of hypocrisy there.
And if he is suggesting that Trump should have transferred Barron to a public school in Washington, D.C. ... have you seen their test scores? No parent who loves their children would voluntarily subject their child to that public school system—which is part of why we support robust vouchers.
You know Barron, that tall kid you sometimes walk to and from the helicopter with? Remember, that kid who was a baby when you slept with a porn star? His school’s not opening. Send him to school first. Let him be the guinea pig. https://t.co/Qbg6nChPfb
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) August 4, 2020
Barron’s not going back to school.
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) August 17, 2020
The Trump’s are voting by mail.
Case closed.
Barron seems like a decent kid. I hope he doesn’t turn out like these evil spawn. pic.twitter.com/bdZaTq1jtG
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) August 17, 2020
Everyone’s talking about how tall Barron Trump is (here towering over Mike Pence). For his family’s sake, I only wish him the best- that he be gay and ends up marrying a guy from a s**t hole country, and they buy a nice home together in Mexico. pic.twitter.com/qo7Y1Do5Dj
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) August 28, 2020
Again, he wasn’t treating the kid as ‘off limits.’
Daily Mail photo caption calls Barron Trump’s grandson. 😂 pic.twitter.com/YPQ7wnSuoZ
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) August 28, 2020
Let’s be honest, Barron wants nothing to do with this family. He needs to pull the ultimate F-you move and start dating Kellyanne Conway’s daughter. pic.twitter.com/LS7Q62BwBq
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) August 28, 2020
If you were wondering, a little Googling reveals that Claudia Conway was born in October of 2004. So, on August 28, 2020, she was only fifteen years old. So, he was also going after a fifteen-year-old girl in that post.
First Lady reveals son Barron had coronavirus, but has now recovered. Trump couldn’t protect the nation, he couldn’t protect his own family.
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) October 14, 2020
Is he under the impression that a president can stop people from getting sick?
Seriously, one of the worst ideas to take hold in the consciousness of Americans during the pandemic was the idea that every time a person got sick it reflected a moral failing on the sick person's part. Somehow, it was your fault for getting sick. It fueled a great deal of ugliness during that time and we would hope we would look back on it and resolve never to be like this again.
I still have on my 2020 Bingo card Barron Trump dating Claudia Conway. pic.twitter.com/Z9yoLK2PGo
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) November 6, 2020
By our calculations, she was sixteen by then. Barron was fourteen.
Tiffany and Barron plot their move. pic.twitter.com/zYeRYsMH19
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) December 22, 2020
Trump, Melania, and Barron automatically receive Secret Service protection, but before he left office, Trump issued a directive to provide Secret Service protection to all his adult children and their spouses. It’s going to cost taxpayers millions.
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) January 21, 2021
We’d hate to interrupt your ‘Trump family massacre’ fantasies, Mike.
Barron Trump seen for the first time since mid-January. Spotted walking through dining room at Mar-a-Lago with his father, the disgraced, twice-impeached, one-term ex-President. pic.twitter.com/zzotbbN3wL
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) April 4, 2021
One term, so far.
Barron Trump is seen for the first time in over six months. https://t.co/IbA8qP8AGW
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) July 8, 2021
He needs those pics, guys. Nothing creepy about that.
(The post links to a Daily Mail fluff article.)
In this conversation, he suggests that Trump is ignoring Barron.
Jimmy Kimmel on Trump’s self-realization that Truth Social is a flop: “He still hasn’t posted on his own Truth Social app since the day it launched back in February. The last time he ignored something this much it was named Eric.”
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) April 28, 2022
Barron!
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) April 28, 2022
Moving on:
Trump goes ballistic over Mar-a-Lago search. (Which wouldn’t have happened if he had returned the documents.) Claims “they rifled through the First Lady’s closet drawers”. (She’s not the First Lady anymore.) Even poor Barron got a “deep and ugly search”. (Whatever that means.) pic.twitter.com/1Qu6cKe7Cj
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) September 4, 2022
Eric Trump as unhinged and deranged as his father. He accuses the Democratic Party of “rape and pillage”…and going through Barron Trump’s underwear drawer. (Video: Newsmax) pic.twitter.com/cqHSIhppjo
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) June 15, 2023
In this conversation, he interacted with an account dedicated to Barron Trump.
Former CFO of Trump Organization turns on Trump and his family. Allen Weisselberg testifies in court Donald Trump, Don Jr, and Eric Trump were directly involved in a massive fraud scheme. (CBS News) pic.twitter.com/AzTSZkrtfV
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) November 17, 2022
Good Barron.
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) November 17, 2022
For years, Trump and Melania bitched, whined, and pleaded to leave Barron alone…leave Barron out of it. Apparently Barron is fair game now. Trump posted this on Truth Social: pic.twitter.com/W8Hp44d11P
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) July 21, 2023
He really, really wants to find any excuse to go after Barron, doesn’t he?
In any case, Barron didn't make himself fair game, so he isn't. It's not impossible for Donald Trump to make his son fair game, through no fault of Barron's, but it takes more than a joke.
And while we were working on this, we started to wonder how much he was fixated on Claudia Conway. Now, to be fair, Claudia Conway did put herself in the news by going on American Idol and having very public arguments with her mother, so that was valid news …
Claudia Conway, 16, threatens to release 'hours and hours' of video to 'prove her mom Kellyanne is physically, mentally, and emotionally abusive' https://t.co/7BXgz1tuSb pic.twitter.com/PL0BNQMJWR
— NowMyNews (@NowMyNews) January 23, 2021
So, we won’t ding him or anyone else for focusing on those accusations, even though this author tends to think that it should ideally still have been treated as a private family matter.
Claudia Conway, 16, says she has hours and hours of video proving her mother Kellyanne Conway is “physically, mentally, and emotionally abusive” to her. Police are now investigating. pic.twitter.com/kopmA9BGDl
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) January 22, 2021
But that reveals that he knew she wasn’t eighteen when he posted his comments suggesting that she and Barron Trump should date.
And guess what? He is fixated on Tiffany Trump, too:
Tiffany Trump is getting married at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday. A hurricane just ravaged the grounds. Her father is in a foul mood because he fu*ked up the midterms…and indictments are looming. Sorry, Tiff, it sucks to be a Trump. pic.twitter.com/QVyTqe3xUY
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) November 10, 2022
Vanity Fair: “Tiffany Trump has never worked for the Trump Organization, and while she may have felt left out of the family when she was growing up, that’s obviously paying off for her now.” pic.twitter.com/Thx7QkNaR1
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) September 23, 2022
Tiffany Trump wants her wedding to be an “international spectacle” with multiple “glamorous and glitzy” ceremonies. Who has any doubt it’s actually going to be the tackiest affair on earth? pic.twitter.com/Q0V66YOYZq
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) July 13, 2021
Yes, it was Tiffany and Vanessa (Don Jr’s wife before she divorced him).
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) May 19, 2021
Bombshell report from Pulitzer Prize winning Washington Post reporter: Donald Trump Jr’s wife started dating one of the Secret Service Agents assigned to her before she divorced Don Jr, and Tiffany Trump began spending an unusual amount of time alone with one of her Agents. pic.twitter.com/Sk3faqAyX6
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) May 11, 2021
Tiffany Trump gets engaged to a billionaire. I guess she realized her father has no more power, is a disgrace, and is broke, so... pic.twitter.com/x4d6oKrvSz
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) January 19, 2021
Notice the lack of empathy on display, here. A person trying to understand what it is like in Tiffany Trump's shoes might recognize that if she marries a billionaire, she can feel confident that he isn't a gold digger and he might feel the same way. But you would have to view the person you are talking about as human, to notice that.
First Daughter Tiffany Trump has a painting commissioned of herself. Which begs the question “why?”. I guess the narcissist doesn’t fall far from the tree. pic.twitter.com/4PU9aL7Ytb
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) August 19, 2019
Going to be all judgy judgy here. Tiffany Trump and her new boyfriend dressed for Easter Sunday.
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) April 21, 2019
• New boyfriend: Needs a tailor badly. Look how those pants are stacked above his shoes.
• Tiffany: That dress is way to tight. Also, no iron at Mar-a-Lago? pic.twitter.com/g9aGxwUOjs
And there are many more instances than we are going to bother to share. To be fair, she doesn’t appear to have been a minor during any of this criticism, but all these attacks on a Trump who never seemed to really get involved in politics is unseemly.
In any case, we weren’t the only ones who noticed that Sington had a bit of a fixation on Barron Trump:
https://t.co/J7C6Yw3IHL pic.twitter.com/FI4YFsIK9M
— Prison Mitch (@MidnightMitch) March 20, 2024
But wait... It's much worse than we thought...
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 20, 2024
It appears NBC Exec Mike Sington has a very creepy obsession with Barron Trump going back years. https://t.co/cPKKwjKscE pic.twitter.com/i3Ba8293pW
He’s a super freak, super freak, Mike is super freaky Chaya…. Yeah…
— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) March 20, 2024
Now we have that song in our head. Please note: This is not a complaint!
He’s a Hollyweirdo and creepy stalker. pic.twitter.com/eSdfXChmGe
— Savannah (@BasedSavannah) March 20, 2024
Well, he did write this when responding to a suspended account:
I am? I thought I was a groomer and pedophile.
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) April 30, 2022
We read that as an ironic statement, but it is not aging very well.
You are? You are.
— U.S. Ministry of Truth (@USMiniTru) March 20, 2024
Fact-check: ✅
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) March 20, 2024
And, finally, if Mr. Sington is reading this, don’t bother deleting your posts or account. We have kept all the screencaps. But you might consider taking a break from social media for a while.
***
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