Podcaster Wants Barron Trump, 20, Put on Trial. Jim Acosta Chimes In: 'Lock Some of Them Up?'

Jennifer Welch, a liberal podcaster and Bravo TV designer, sat on stage at Politics and Prose, the Washington bookstore, to sell her new book, "Not Today, Fascists." Her interviewer was Jim Acosta, CNN's former chief White House correspondent. About 24 minutes in, she told the room which members of President Trump's family she wants put on trial.

"I'm just going to say it," Welch said. "I want Barron." Then Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, and Tiffany Trump, his daughter: "Tiffany, oh gosh, even Tiffany. I want them all investigated. Every single one of them investigated."

Barron Trump is 20 years old and in college. Welch never said what he did.

Acosta's contribution

Welch tried to soften it. "It's not like I have a rabid, like, lock them up mentality," she said, "but I want them to..."

Acosta finished her sentence for her, mic up: "Lock some of them up?"

Welch kept going. "I want them to have trials," she went on, "and I want, if they stole money or they were improper business dealings, all of their money taken away."

Notice the order. First the names, then the investigations, then the trials, and only then an "if." That isn't how justice works in America. You start with a crime and go looking for the person who did it. You don't start with a 20-year-old's last name and go looking for a crime.

"All the way down to Barron"

It wasn't the first time Barron's name came up that night. Earlier, Welch mocked the billionaires who visit Trump's White House and said what she would do in their shoes: "Tell him I said, f*** you. F*** Melania. F*** all the way down to Barron. F*** all of them."

Barron has never held a government job, run a campaign or been accused of anything by anyone in law enforcement. He was 10 when his father first won the White House. To Welch, he's still a target.

Why it matters a week out

Politics and Prose posted the full hour on its YouTube channel on Oct. 25. The clip took off on X after journalist Jason Cohen posted it Monday evening. His post alone has more than 100,000 views.

It lands eight days before the midterms, as Democrats tell voters what they would do with power. Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, announced on Oct. 22 that he is introducing a "Truth and Accountability Commission," and he wrote on X that it is for, among others, "public officials & family members who enriched themselves." His next line: "We need investigations & prosecutions."

Welch is not a lawmaker. But she is a star of the left's podcast world, she was booked at the capital's best-known political bookstore, and she said it next to a man who spent years in the White House briefing room lecturing Trump about norms. Acosta didn't push back. His contribution was "Lock some of them up?"

What's next

The full video was still up on the bookstore's YouTube channel Tuesday morning. Barron Trump, Tiffany Trump and Jared Kushner have not been charged with anything.