Kids are upstaging their political parents — by acting like kids

POLITICS

Rep. John Rose, R-Tenn. speaks on the floor of the House of Representatives on Monday in Washington as his son Guy makes a face in comedic verve. HOUSE TELEVISION VIA AP

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By Ashraf Khalil

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON >> For one shining moment this week, the country’s ongoing political crises were swept away by the comedic power of one cherubic and wildly exuberant 6-year-old.

Rep. John Rose, R-Tenn., was giving an impassioned defense of former President Donald Trump when his young son Guy went into action. As C-Span recorded the moment, Guy mugged for the camera, stuck his tongue out, rolled his eyes and generally seemed to be having a blast. The nation reacted with a burst of pure bipartisan giddiness.

Guy’s moment in the spotlight is the latest example of political kids upstaging their parents and bringing a moment of levity to the official workings of government. It’s also a solid case study on the sheer unifying power of humor.

“It reminds us that we’re all humans, we all have children. And maybe these things we’re fighting about aren’t all that important,” said Caleb Warren, co-director of the University of Colorado’s Humor Research Lab and a marketing professor at the University of Arizona. “And for him to be doing that during one of these hyperpolitical speeches, that’s what makes it special ... If he was just making those faces in the classroom, it wouldn’t have been the same.”

He now joins a long and proud line of political kids gaining attention for publicly acting like kids. Perhaps his purest spiritual predecessor is young Andrew Giuliani mugging his way through his father Rudy’s 1994 mayoral inauguration — a performance so iconic that it merited a Saturday Night Live parody.

“This is my Guy!!!,” Andrew Giuliani tweeted Tuesday, linking to the C-Span clip.

Rep. Rose has taken all the fuss in good spirits — especially considering that he was in the middle of giving a fairly angry speech that basically nobody listened to.

“Guy has been a source of joy in our family since we brought him home from the hospital six years ago,” Rose told The Associated Press. “I certainly had no idea he was making those faces behind me while I was delivering remarks, but in hindsight, I’m glad he did. I think we all needed that laugh.”