This congressman's kid embodies how everyone probably feels about politics right now
House Television via AP
- Rep. John Rose of Tennessee made a passionate speech defending Donald Trump on Monday.
- But all eyes were on Guy, his 6-year-old son, who stole the show with his backstage mischief.
- Guy just graduated kindergarten, and Rose said he was asked to smile for his little brother.
Politics can be tiring. The 2024 election, set to be a contest between two of the nation's oldest-ever candidates, is marked by undertones of war, a doozy of federal crimes, and increasingly divided voters.
Guy Rose, 6, is showing us all how he copes.
As his father, GOP Rep. John Rose of Tennessee, took the podium on Monday to blast former President Donald Trump's New York prosecutors, the boy, sitting behind, pulled a range of faces for the camera.
First, he flashed the camera with a winning smile, then appeared to lose interest before seemingly cooking up a fun idea.
"Regardless of one's opinion of the current Republican nominee, we'd be well-served to remember the long and cherished tradition we have in the country for settling our political differences at the ballot box," said Rose.
Meanwhile, Guy launched into a series of goofy faces, tongue wagging, eyes rolling, and complete with dramatic hand gestures.
House Television via AP
His dad continued to speak, saying May 30 — the day Trump was found guilty of 34 felonies — would go down as "one of the more infamous days in American history" because of "flimsy" charges brought against Trump.
Behind Rose, Guy appeared to get bored, fishing a toy out of his pocket and fidgeting with it, occasionally giving the camera a cheeky glance.
C-SPAN captured the boy's adorable antics for only about five minutes as his father spoke, but they've since gone viral.
According to Rose, the faces apparently stemmed from an encouragement for Guy to smile at the camera for his little brother, Sam.
The Associated Press reported that Guy just graduated kindergarten last week and that his brother and mother, Chelsea, are back home in Tennessee.
Rose's opposition jumped in with criticism for the congressman on Monday evening, writing on X that "we too would be mocking him while he spoke."
Doug Andres, spokesperson for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, suggested that Guy might have been trying to tell everyone something about the Illuminati.
Rose, now 59, was likely about 53 when his wife gave birth to Guy. The congressman was 45 in 2011 when he married Chelsea Rose, who was then 21 and a college senior, according to The American Prospect, a liberal political magazine.
He founded the IT training company Transcender Corp and was president of Boson Software, a similar firm based in Nashville. Rose was also Tennessee's agriculture commissioner from 2001 to 2003 before he became a congressman for the state's 6th district in 2019.
Rose generally aligns with his party in votes and politics, more recently defending Trump and supporting Israel.