Fonda apologises for ‘vulgar’ Barron Trump tweet

Peter Fonda has apologised for suggesting Barron Trump should be ripped from “his mother’s arms and put in a cage with pedophiles”.

Actor Peter Fonda has apologised for a ‘vulgar’ tweet about Barron Trump. Picture: AP

Peter Fonda apologised yesterday for a late-night Twitter rant in which he suggested 12-year-old Barron Trump should be ripped from “his mother’s arms and put in a cage with pedophiles”.

The all-capitals tweet in the small hours went on to call US President Donald Trump an expletive. The actor later deleted the tweet and drew sharp rebukes from first lady Melania Trump and Donald Trump Jr.

The two-time Oscar nominee, sister of Jane Fonda and son of Hollywood legend Henry Fonda, said hours later that he was upset over children separated from their parents on the US-Mexico border.

“I tweeted something highly ­inappropriate and vulgar about the President and his family in ­response to the devastating images I was seeing on television,” Fonda said in the statement. “Like many Americans, I am very ­impassioned and distraught over the situation with children separated from their families at the border, but I went way too far. It was wrong and I should not have done it.

“I immediately regretted it and sincerely apologise to the family for what I said and any hurt my words have caused.”

In another tweet, Fonda suggested people opposed to the border policy should track down the addresses of federal agents and “surround their homes in protest”, adding: “We should find out what schools their children go to and surround the schools in protest.”

Stephanie Grisham, Mrs Trump’s spokeswoman, said on email of the Barron remarks: “The tweet is sick and irresponsible.” She said the US Secret Service had been notified.

Donald Trump Jr responded, tweeting: “You’re clearly a sick ­individual (behaving) like a bully and a coward.”

Meanwhile, entertainer Jimmy Fallon opened up about the personal anguish he felt following the backlash to his hair-mussing ­appearance with Mr Trump.

The host of The Tonight Show told The Hollywood Reporter he “made a mistake” and apologised “if I made anyone mad”. Reflecting on the September 2016 episode, he said he “would do it differently”.

Trump opponents criticised Fallon for a cringe-worthy interview just weeks before the presidential election where the host playfully stroked Mr Trump’s hair.

Fallon’s show lost more than a fifth of its audience and its late-night crown to Stephen Colbert’s new, more political The Late Show.

Fallon said in a Hollywood ­Reporter podcast that he was not approving of Mr Trump or his ­beliefs just because he joked with him: “I did not do it to normalise him or to say I believe in his political beliefs or any of that stuff.”

Fallon revealed the backstage fallout following criticism he had been too soft on Mr Trump. “It’s tough for morale,” he said. “You go, ‘All right, we get it. I heard you. You made me feel bad. So now what? Are you happy? I’m ­depressed. Do you want to push me more? What do you want me to do? You want me to kill myself? What would make you happy?’’

He said he worked hard and was one of the “good people”, but faced a “gang mentality” online. “People just jump on the train, and some people don’t even want to hear anything else,” he said.

AP