Awkward Eric Trump Moments Seen By Millions
Eric Trump is the middle child of former President Donald Trump. With two older siblings (Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump) and two younger half-siblings (Tiffany Trump and Barron Trump), he's directly in the center of the Trump kids. As an avid supporter of his father's political career, the New York businessman has ruffled his share of feathers over the years. Like the time Eric Trump made people furious by sharing a video that spread misinformation about burned ballots heading into the November 2020 election. That did not go over well.
Like many members of the Trump family, Eric has also been parodied on "Saturday Night Live." Played by former cast member Alex Moffat, the fictionalized version of Eric was characterized as simple-minded, like a small child, and often blurted out things he shouldn't say before being corrected by his older brother. In a "Weekend Update" segment from October 2020, Mikey Day as Don Jr. said, "Dad isn't worried about losing this election. In fact, he's — " prompting Moffat as Eric to interrupt by yelling, "Terrified!" Later in the sketch, Eric drank hand sanitizer and with a toothy grin said, "Dad said it was fine!"
Although the parodies are exaggerated for laughs, Eric has had plenty of real-life awkward moments that were seen by millions.
Eric Trump got his younger brother's age wrong (twice)
One of the more awkward moments is when Eric Trump got his brother Barron's age wrong during two public speaking engagements. The first happened in June 2023 during a NewsMax interview. In a clip uploaded to X, formerly known as Twitter, Eric criticized the Democratic Party and spoke about how they'll attack and violate the privacy of anyone opposing them. Seemingly referencing the Mar-a-Lago raids, Eric said, "They will go after your family. They will go after your kids. They will raid, you know, Barron's room, who's a 16-year-old kid, 15-year-old kid." At the time, Barron was 17 years old.
Later that year, Eric made the same mistake, which speaks volumes about Eric Trump's relationship with Barron. At a ReAwaken America convention, Eric told a hypothetical story and made a reference to "Barron at 15 years old" (via X) although his brother was still 17. Even if Eric's hypothetical was meant to take place in the past, it was still an awkward moment that had people talking.
A comedian dissed Eric Trump's awkward RNC shout-out
At the 2020 Republican National Convention (RNC), Eric Trump gave his father Donald Trump an awkward shout-out that sparked some roasting at the hands of James Corden, then-host of "The Late Late Show." Corden showed viewers a clip of Eric's RNC speech, where he said, "In closing, I'd like to speak directly to my father. I miss working alongside you every single day, but I'm damn proud to be on the front lines of this fight. I'm proud of what you are doing for this country."
Corden quipped, "Doesn't that sound suspiciously like the words of someone who's had his phone number blocked?" Corden told Eric to just talk to his father and questioned why he involved everyone watching the speech. Corden also felt that the personal message to Donald in the speech was "so awkward" and worse than saying "I love you" and hearing, "I know, thank you," in response.
While referring to Eric's sentiments about working with his father, one commenter on Corden's YouTube video said if voters ensured that Donald didn't win the 2020 election, "Then they can 'work' together all the time!!"
Eric Trump was roasted for an asinine comment about New York City
The aftermath of Donald Trump's New York fraud civil case resulted in many woes for the former president. On February 16, 2024, the former president was slapped with an approximately $355 million fine plus $98.6 million in added interest that would continue to increase each day until the fine was paid. Donald was also barred from doing business in New York for three years. As for Eric and Don Jr., they were hit with a slightly shorter restriction that barred them from working as executives of New York businesses for only two years.
Eric was particularly seething after the ruling in February 2024. In an interview with Fox News he said, "My father built the skyline of New York City, and this is the thanks he gets?" (via X). His wildly incorrect comment didn't go over well. Many thought his claim was ludicrous, with one X user saying, "The Flatiron, Chrysler, and Empire State buildings beg to differ, petal."
Other users couldn't help but poke fun at Eric, joking that their own fathers "built the Pyramids of Giza" or "the Mayan Temples."
Eric Trump was completely wrong about Donald's hush money case
Just because you say something with confidence doesn't make it true. That's a lesson Eric Trump needs to learn. In the midst of another one of his father's court cases, Eric made another wildly incorrect statement and was called out on it. In April 2024, Donald Trump's hush money case went to trial. The case revolves around payments made to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal in an effort to keep Donald's alleged affairs with them under wraps while he ran for president in 2016. However, the hush money was paid by Donald's former lawyer Michael Cohen, who was reimbursed under the guise of routine business expenses.
All of that happened prior to Donald winning the 2016 election. However, while speaking about the trial on Fox News, Eric said, "My father was focused on running the United States of America, not bookkeeping, not that anything was done wrong in the bookkeeping" (via X).
Many people replied to a tweet sharing Eric's erroneous comment and corrected him, pointing out that his father hadn't been elected president at the time the payments happened. One person referenced one of Eric's other mistakes, saying, "@EricTrump this was during his campaign. BTW, how old is [Barron]?"
Eric Trump talked about his father's energy (after Donald fell asleep in court)
The hush money case sparked discussion about Donald Trump's exhausted court appearance. The former president seemed to fall asleep in the courtroom, which spawned a new nickname for Donald Trump: "Sleepy Don" a play on the "Sleepy Joe" nickname Donald repeatedly hurls at Joe Biden. As usual, Eric Trump had an incredibly awkward moment when he completely contradicted facts and raved about his father's "stamina."
The week of April 28, 2024, Eric was interviewed by Maria Bartiromo on Fox News. She pointed out how Trump had one day off that week, but couldn't campaign as much as Biden because of court. Eric said Donald's day out of court would be used to campaign in swing states and continued, "He's going all over the place. And his stamina, Maria, I have never seen anything like it in my life. I mean, I have just never seen it" (via The Hill).
Eric Trump: My father’s stamina, I've never seen anything like it in my life
(Donald Trump has fallen asleep in court multiple times in the past week) pic.twitter.com/OMzMgx2HRu
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) April 29, 2024
When a short excerpt of the interview was shared on X, the caption included Eric's "stamina" quote followed by a note that, "(Donald Trump has fallen asleep in court multiple times in the past week)." A couple of users replied to the tweet with the courtroom sketch of Donald asleep, proving Eric wrong once again.