WASHINGTON (AP) — There was a glorious moment this week when the country’s ongoing political crisis was swept away by the comedic powers of an angelic and extremely feisty 6-year-old.
When Rep. John Rhodes (R-Tenn.) was giving an impassioned defense of former President Donald Trump, his young son, Guy, sprang into action. As C-Span filmed the moment, Guy appeared to be having a great time, grimacing at the camera, sticking out his tongue and rolling his eyes. The nation responded with a bipartisan outburst of pure joy. Even Sen. Mitch McConnell’s press secretary joined in the laughter.
Guy’s moment in the spotlight is the latest example of politically interested young people stealing the attention of their parents and injecting a bit of humor into official government activities — and a solid case study in the pure unifying power of humor.
“It’s a reminder that we’re all human, we all have kids, and maybe these things that we’re fighting about aren’t that important,” said Caleb Warren, co-director of the University of Colorado Humor Lab and a marketing professor at the University of Arizona. “And the fact that he was doing it in the middle of one of these extremely political speeches is what makes this special. If he’d just made that face in a classroom, it wouldn’t have been the same.”
The mismatch between behavior and environment is key, according to Tamara Sharifoff, a San Diego-based licensed clinical social worker who uses humor in therapy sessions, mediation and conflict resolution, and who recently spoke at a panel in Washington about the healing power of humor.
“Comedy changes perspective and softens the heart. It increases empathy and creates a calmer environment,” she says. “It’s very therapeutic. It breaks down formality.”
The day after his antics on the House floor, Guy again rolled around on the White House lawn during the annual Congressional picnic.
He now joins a long and proud lineage of political brats who have attracted attention by behaving like a child in public – perhaps his purest spiritual precursor was a young Andrew Giuliani’s antics at his father Rudy’s mayoral inauguration in 1994, a performance so iconic it was parodied on Saturday Night Live.
“THIS IS MY GUY!!!” Andrew Giuliani tweeted Tuesday, linking to the C-Span clip.
Chief Justice John Roberts’ then-4-year-old son Jack drew attention with an enthusiastic dance during the 2005 ceremony in which President Obama introduced Roberts as a Supreme Court nominee, and an infamous Oval Office photo shows a Secret Service agent’s young son face-first into a couch as his parents converse.
Sometimes the cuteness of kids gets a little staged, like when the White House held a “Take Your Child to Work Day” event where kids played Secret Service agents and reporters.
And sometimes the attention isn’t always positive: In 2014, Sasha and Malia Obama acted like bored, frazzled teenagers while their father spoke at a decidedly boring Thanksgiving turkey pardon press conference. Republican congressional staffers publicly criticized the pair for their lack of courtesy, and they quickly resigned under pressure.
The newest member of this elite club, young Guy Rhodes, has already achieved remarkable bipartisanship in these divided times: Father and son have appeared together on CNN and Fox News, and the young man’s comedic confidence only seems to grow stronger with time.
When asked to describe his father’s job, Guy told Fox News that his father “has a boring job.”
And when Rep. Rose began to give a very political answer about how interesting it would be to meet and learn from constituents, Guy, in a whispered voice and with magnificent comedic timing, said, “He’s not telling the truth!”
Councillor Rose took the uproar in a positive light, considering he was in the middle of a fairly angry speech that almost no one heard.
“Guy has been a source of joy to our family ever since we brought him home from the hospital six years ago,” Rose told The Associated Press. “I had no idea he had that look on his face behind me while I was giving my speech, but looking back, I’m glad he did. We all needed that laugh.”
