As much as we want the minor children of presidents to be “off limits,” it’s impossible to shield them from everything … especially the really awful stuff. Case in point: Barron Trump and the despicable photo of the despicable Kathy Griffin holding the bloody and “decapitated” head of Donald Trump.

TMZ is reporting that young Barron, 11, was watching TV at home yesterday when he saw the image of his father.

Trump family sources tell us Barron was in front of the TV watching a show when the news came on and he saw the bloody, beheaded image. We’re told he panicked and screamed, “Mommy, Mommy!”

In reaction to Griffin’s stunt, the president himself alluded to the fact that it had impacted Barron in a very bad way.

Kathy Griffin should be ashamed of herself. My children, especially my 11 year old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2017

Kathy Griffin is childless and perhaps doesn’t realize that 11-year-olds are still forming the skills needed to decipher reality from sick, twisted fantasy – or whatever idiotic nonsense she was trying to achieve with that photo. Their brains don’t process that kind of stuff the same way an adult’s brain does, so poor Barron, in that moment, imagined the worst had happened. Much like most 11-year-olds would react.

If she has an ounce of shame in her, and not the kind of faux shame that bubbles up when you realize your “career” is at stake, Kathy Griffin will apologize directly to the Trump family, and especially to Barron Trump for putting him through the moment of terror.