Actress Lena Dunham deleted a tweet Sunday that trashed the necessity of fathers on Fathers' Day.
"You don't need a father," Dunham tweeted. "So many families work so many ways—but if you have one he better werk [sic]."
Dunham's tweet flew largely under the radar, until Donald Trump, Jr. highlighted and criticized it.
It never ends. Would be great to have just 1 day without the unnecessary SJW commentary. Doubt there was a similar comment on Mother's Day. https://t.co/pYe2WEqhgc
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) June 18, 2017
GO AWAY https://t.co/W5Rg2t03tU
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) June 18, 2017
"Feminists don't hate men." https://t.co/9Nm6TonBJY
— Amanda Prestigiacomo (@AmandaPresto) June 18, 2017
People do need fathers, you have one that you seem to love & who has enriched your life. Why rob someone of that? https://t.co/VWVsFBequO
— Ryan James Girdusky (@RyanGirdusky) June 18, 2017
Contrary to Dunham, Democrats and Republicans alike generally view the rise in fatherlessness as a serious concern.
"Too many fathers are M.I.A, too many fathers are AWOL, missing from too many lives and too many homes," former President Barack Obama once argued. "They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men. And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it."
Dunham later tweeted a more conventional Fathers' Day message honoring her own dad.
My father is my favorite artist and my best friend pic.twitter.com/2YQ1xOswbJ
— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) June 18, 2017
Dunham's father, Stanley Dunham, "werks" as a photographer. Dunham has strongly contested the accusation that her father and mother's positions in the New York City entertainment world contributed to her meteoric rise.