Mike Sington claimed he meant Barron was 'fair game' for criticism from the press
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A former NBC executive who sparked backlash for a tweet that said Barron Trump was "fair game" upon turning 18 years old has deleted the post and said he does not wish "harm" on the former president's son.
Mike Sington, a retired NBCUniversal senior executive, was criticized on Wednesday when he commemorated Barron's birthday with a cryptic post on X.
"Barron Trump turns 18 today. He's fair game now," Sington wrote, sharing an image of him with his father.
While Sington stopped short of an apology, he has since deleted the tweet and attempted to clarify his message, telling Newsweek, "I posted he was 'fair game' now, meaning, as an adult, he's 'fair game' for criticism from the press."
Mike Sington has deleted his tweet about Barron Trump and is now attempting to clarify the meaning behind the post. (Twitter/screenshot/GIORGIO VIERA/AFP via Getty Images)
"Someone pointed out to me 'fair game' could mean fair game to be harmed. I don't wish physical harm on anyone, so I took it down. I listen to the comments and criticism I receive," he continued.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment.
Barron has largely been able to stay out of the limelight during and after Trump's time in office. But several prominent figures have made crude remarks or jokes aimed at Trump's youngest son.
During Trump's 2019 impeachment hearings, Stanford Law Professor Pamela Karlan cracked a joke during her testimony, saying, "The Constitution says there can be no titles of nobility, so while the president can name his son Barron, he can't make him a baron."
PETER FONDA SORRY FOR BARRON TRUMP TWEET BUT HIS TWEETS OFTEN GO TOO FAR
Retired NBC exec-turned-liberal influencer Mike Sington went viral with his now-deleted post targeting Barron Trump as being "fair game." (Screenshot/X)
A year earlier, actor Peter Fonda was condemned for a tweet that said he wanted to "rip Barron Trump from his mother's arms and put him in a cage with pedophiles."
Former "Saturday Night Live" writer Katie Rich was suspended from the show in 2018 for a Twitter post that said Barron would be the country's "first homeschool shooter."
Following Kathy Griffin's infamous photoshoot where she held up a prop of Trump's bloody and severed head, "Jeopardy!" host Ken Jennings joked that Barron must have thought the pictures were real.
"Barron Trump saw a very long necktie on a heap of expired deli meat in a dumpster. He thought it was his dad & his little heart is breaking," Ken Jennings wrote at the time.
Karlan, Fonda, Rich and Jennings all apologized for their comments.
Fox News' Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
Nikolas Lanum is an associate editor for Fox News Digital.
