Comedian John Henson may have taken a joke too far — at least, according to Melania Trump. The host of Wipeout and the Food Network’s Halloween Baking Championship tweeted on June 21, Father’s Day, “I hope Barron gets to spend today with whoever his dad is.” John has since deleted the tweet, but not before the quip about Barron Trump, 14, got back to his mother. Melania issued a statement to the press, via her spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, deriding John for invoking her son’s name.
“Sadly we continue to see inappropriate and insensitive comments about the President’s son [Barron],” Stephanie wrote. “As with every other Administration, a minor child should be off limits and allowed to grow up with no judgment or hate from strangers and the media.” John, a vocal critic of Barron’s father, President Donald Trump, defended his tweet to fans. “The joke was aimed at Trump and the mere mention of Barron’s name doesn’t mean it’s at his expense. Although, I respect your right to take issue with it,” he tweeted on June 21.
With respect, I think you dissecting it is the issue. The joke was aimed at Trump and the mere mention of Barron’s name doesn’t mean it’s at his expense.
Although I respect your right to take issue with it.
— John Henson (@John_Henson) June 21, 2020
The First Lady does not speak publicly often, but is swift to come to her son’s defense whenever necessary. She took to Twitter in December 2019 to slam Pamela Karlan, after the law professor mentioned Barron’s name while making a joke during the House impeachment hearings: “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.”
To that, Melania responded, “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.” The professor later apologized to the Trump family for her joke. Melania is known to be fiercely protective of her young son, famously staying behind at the Trump Tower after her husband’s 2017 inauguration so that Barron could finish his school semester before moving to DC.
There may have been another reason that she chose to live in New York City for an extra five months before moving into the East Wing of the White House. Melania, according to the book The Art of Her Deal: The Untold Story of Melania Trump, was busy renegotiating her prenup. Or, as she allegedly called it, “taking care of Barron.” Melania apparently “needed time to cool off” after finding out about her husband’s alleged affair with Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal and other sexual indiscretions.
As in, the infamous Access Hollywood “grab ’em by the p***y” tape. After those multiple fiascos, Melania allegedly decided that she had enough leverage to alter her “generous” prenup to her liking. The existing prenup had multiple protections for Barron’s future, including making sure that he had dual citizenship in Melania’s home country of Slovenia.
With that, he could work in Europe for the Trump Organization one day. Now, the prenup allegedly stipulates that he’ll have a larger part to play in the family business, just like his siblings: “Melania wanted proof in writing that when it came to financial opportunities and inheritance, Barron would be treated as more of an equal to Trump’s oldest three children,” according to the book.