Chelsea Clinton: 'Everyone Leave Barron Trump Alone'

WASHINGTON, DC — Kids should be left out of politics. It's a simple principle that nearly everyone accepts: While politicians and their spouses choose a life in government, their young children don't get the opportunity to turn away from public scrutiny, and they should largely be left alone.

But Ford Springer, a writer for the Daily Caller, disagrees.

"It’s High Time Barron Trump Starts Dressing Like He’s In the White House," wrote the conservative site's entertainment reporter on Monday. Despite saying he's "on the Barron Trump train," Springer gives out unsolicited fashion advice to the pre-teen for wearing more casual attire than his parents.

Chelsea Clinton, the former first daughter, quickly denounced the attack on Barron, an 11-year-old and the youngest of the president's children. (For more information on this and other political stories, subscribe to the White House Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

"It's high time the media & everyone leave Barron Trump alone & let him have the private childhood he deserves," Clinton wrote on Twitter.

Stephanie Grisham, a spokeswoman for Mrs. Trump, appealed to the media to give Barron space to be a kid, according to the Associated Press.

"As with all previous administrations, we ask that the media give Barron his privacy. He is a minor child and deserves every opportunity to have a private childhood," Grisham said.

During the presidential campaign, observers across the spectrum similarly denounced a political cartoon that portrayed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's children as wind-up monkeys.

"Not too much ticks me off, but making fun of my girls, that'll do it," Cruz said of the cartoon that was published in The Washington Post. At that time, most observers agreed the cartoon stepped over the line, and the piece was taken down by the Post.

Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images for City Harvest