‘It was incredibly irresponsible’
The creator of a YouTube video that speculated whether 10-year-old Barron Trump is autistic has apologized to the Trump family in a new video posted Tuesday afternoon.
YouTube user James Hunter issued the apology after news broke that Melania Trump was threatening a lawsuit over the video. In a letter obtained by Us Weekly, Mrs. Trump’s lawyer, Charles J. Harder, said the video was a form of harassment and bullying. He reportedly demanded that Mr. Hunter remove the video or face legal action.
In his new video, Mr. Hunter said his suggestion that the youngest Trump suffers from autism “is in fact 100% false.”
“It was incredibly irresponsible of me to diagnose Barron Trump using a selection of misleading videos,” he said. “Many of the videos I used showed Barron Trump behaving like any normal kid would at 3 a.m. I falsely correlated him trying to stay awake and occasionally doing a quirky things, with him suffering from autism. This was incredibly foolish of me.
“My video was originally intended as an anti-bullying video, as I myself suffer from autism and wanted to educate people,” he continued. “Unfortunately, I completely misdiagnosed a person and ended up making a video that was false, defamatory and malicious. I retract every single statement I made in that horrendous video, and want to sincerely apologize to the Trump family, especially to Melania and Barron Trump.”
Mr. Hunter went on to wish the Trump family “good luck, safety and love” in the White House.
His original video gained widespread attention last week after Rosie O’Donnell, who has feuded with President-elect Donald Trump for years, tweeted it and speculated that Barron showed signs of having the developmental disorder. She has since deleted the tweet.
James Hunter, creator of Barron Trump autism video, apologizes to Trump family in new video - Washington Times
The creator of a YouTube video that speculated whether 10-year-old Barron Trump is autistic has apologized to the Trump family in a new video posted Tuesday afternoon.
YouTube user James Hunter issued the apology after news broke that Melania Trump was threatening a lawsuit over the video. In a letter obtained by Us Weekly, Mrs. Trump’s lawyer, Charles J. Harder, said the video was a form of harassment and bullying. He reportedly demanded that Mr. Hunter remove the video or face legal action.
In his new video, Mr. Hunter said his suggestion that the youngest Trump suffers from autism “is in fact 100% false.”
“It was incredibly irresponsible of me to diagnose Barron Trump using a selection of misleading videos,” he said. “Many of the videos I used showed Barron Trump behaving like any normal kid would at 3 a.m. I falsely correlated him trying to stay awake and occasionally doing a quirky things, with him suffering from autism. This was incredibly foolish of me.
“My video was originally intended as an anti-bullying video, as I myself suffer from autism and wanted to educate people,” he continued. “Unfortunately, I completely misdiagnosed a person and ended up making a video that was false, defamatory and malicious. I retract every single statement I made in that horrendous video, and want to sincerely apologize to the Trump family, especially to Melania and Barron Trump.”
Mr. Hunter went on to wish the Trump family “good luck, safety and love” in the White House.
His original video gained widespread attention last week after Rosie O’Donnell, who has feuded with President-elect Donald Trump for years, tweeted it and speculated that Barron showed signs of having the developmental disorder. She has since deleted the tweet.
James Hunter, creator of Barron Trump autism video, apologizes to Trump family in new video - Washington Times
