When a Comedian Stirred Controversy with 'Insensitive' Joke About Barron Trump's Bond with His Dad

Not all jokes are meant to be funny. TV host and comedian John Henson landed in hot waters with former First Lady Melania Trump for passing an "insensitive" joke on her son- Barron Trump. Henson, a host of Food Network's Halloween Baking Championship and Wipeout, was harshly criticized for his words which he later retrieved from X, formerly Twitter. 

It was Father's Day and Henson took a jibe at the youngest Trump's relationship with his father in 2020. He originally tweeted, "I hope Barron gets to spend today with whoever his dad is." Although the post has now been taken down, Henson did respond to some of X users' criticism and defended himself, as per PEOPLE. 

For instance, @BarryWhitman took an issue with his joke, saying, "Minor children are off limits adult children are fair game. You probably should delete this, and no I am not a Trump supporter." Henson responded, "It doesn't insult Barron at all." Whitman further argued, "It kind of does when you question who his father may be, minor children shouldn't be brought into the discussion for any reason," with Henson defending himself, "And I politely disagree with your interpretation of the joke." 

In response to another tweet which has now been deleted, Henson explained, "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." 

Following the backlash on X, the Slovenian mother's chief of staff, Stephanie Grisham, condemned the joke in a statement, "Sadly we continue to see inappropriate and insensitive comments about the president's son. 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." 

However, it seems Henson didn't regret one bit of his words as his other tweets echoed the same sentiment about the Republican nominee. Back in November 2020, the talk show host accused Trump's intentions of running for president, "Trump ran for President to grow his brand and make more money. Four years later his brand is toxic and he’s facing financial devastation. Irony is undefeated."

The now-18-year-old was born on March 20, 2006, and is the only son of ex-commander-in-chief Donald Trump. The former model, who married the politician in 2004, has been fiercely protective of her child and raised him in secrecy away from the prying eyes of public and media scrutiny. Although she succeeded in doing that, she couldn't fully protect him from Trump's haters online. 

An insider previously told PEOPLE, that Melania is "a doting mother to Barron and very protective of him. This is nothing new. Barron has always been a first priority in [Melania's] life. She has always put him first. She is a good mother."