HARRISBURG, Pa. — At a glance, Hunter Tirpak is your typical Pennsylvania pre-teen: Shaggy brown hair, glasses and an infectious smile that lights up a room.
But back in October 2016, 2-year-old Hunter took the world by storm when then-presidential candidate Donald Trump brought him onstage at a rally in Wilkes-Barre.
Holding the suit-clad toddler — whose blond hair looked very much like the future 45th president’s infamous ‘do — Trump famously asked if he’d like to return to his parents or stay with him.
Hunter’s simple response of “Trump” drew raucous applause.
Now 10 years old — whose hair has darkened — Hunter told The Post he remembers the viral moment well.
“It was cool. Not every kid gets to do that [with] the president,” Hunter said. “It was just lucky how I got to do it.”
On Wednesday, Hunter donned a red shirt reading “The O.G. Baby Trump 2016” and made the roughly 90-minute journey from Schuylkill County to Harrisburg for Trump’s rally with mom Jessica Tirpak and his siblings.
Though he’s eight years too young to vote, the preteen has his finger on the pulse of what’s important for Republicans across the ballot this year.
Hunter said he wanted to hear Trump, 78, discuss “the races in Texas and gas prices” — despite being six years too young to drive.
Of course, Republicans pounced on pain at the pump to take back the House in 2022 and remain focused on the issue as gas prices soar in critical swing states, such as Michigan.
And in Texas, chaos at the border has helped Republicans flip several heavily Hispanic, traditionally Democratic districts during the Biden-Harris years. Voters from the state’s Rio Grande Valley have sent conservatives, like Reps. Monica De La Cruz and Tony Gonzales, to Congress.
Republican Sen. Ted Cruz is also up for re-election in the Lone Star State — polls show him leading Democrat Colin Allred by a comfortable margin. However, Cruz faced a stronger-than-expected fight from progressive Beto O’Rourke in 2018 as the latter inched toward his failed presidential bid in 2020.
Speaking to The Post just after her son, Jessica Tirpak noted that she and Hunter were not at the western Pennsylvania rally where Trump was nearly assassinated earlier this month.
“We had gotten 20 calls and messages seeing if we were there that day,” Jessica recalled.
“I looked over at Hunter and I said, ‘Are we not gonna go to rallies anymore?’ And he said, ‘No, we’re going.’
Still, she has used the incident as a teaching moment for her son.
“We talked about things that happen in churches and schools and theaters,” Jessica added, noting they both felt safe attending Wednesday’s Trump rally.
“It was a horrible, horrible thing, and I feel like it probably changed security here today.”
Of Trump’s chances for re-election, Hunter said the former prez “could definitely beat” Kamala Harris because he’s just “better.”
Perhaps this is one “ Hunter” we can all get behind!
