Former President Donald Trump misstated the age of his youngest son in an interview that aired Thursday, saying Barron Trump was 17 years old — even though he turned 18 in March.
The mistake came when Trump reacted to his son's entering the political arena as a delegate from Florida for the Republican National Convention, which was first reported by NBC News.
"He’s pretty young, I will say. He’s 17," Trump said in an interview with Telemundo 51 of Miami. "But if they can do that, I’m all for it."
Telemundo is the Spanish-language network of NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News.
Asked for comment, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung attacked NBC News.
"NBC News has lost its mind and clearly suffers from Trump Derangement Syndrome. Instead of focusing on President Trump’s second term agenda and undoing Crooked Joe Biden’s disastrous policies, NBC has chosen to engage in tabloid journalism fit for the checkout aisle of a grocery store," Cheung said in a statement.
Trump's youngest son will serve as a delegate alongside Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Tiffany Trump. It is one of his first public moves in politics; he has previously been largely out of the public eye.
The former president also referred to his youngest son's being a delegate as "very cute," adding, "He’s a very young guy, and he’s graduating from high school this year."
Barron Trump will graduate from high school next week. The former president requested a break from his criminal trial in New York so he can attend the graduation on May 17. Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over the hush money case, in which Trump is accused of falsifying business records, has said Trump can attend the graduation. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
