Ken Jennings, the ‘Jeopardy!” champ who holds the longest winning streak for the game show, took to Twitter Wednesday to mock President Donald Trump’s 11-year-old son.

“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,” wrote Mr. Jennings shortly before 2:30 p.m. Eastern time.

The tweet appears to be a reference to a report by TMZ.com that young Barron cried when he saw a photo of comedian Kathy Griffin holding what looked like the bloody, severed head of the nation’s 45th president.

That gruesome image resulted in Ms. Griffin being fired by CNN Wednesday.

Taken to task by some on Twitter for mocking a child, Mr. Jennings has defended his tweet.

“The joke doesn’t mock Barron. It mocks using him for political cover…and specifically this amazing tweet,” he wrote, linking to a tweet by an anchor from the conservative-leaning One America News Network.

“TMZ reports: Barron Trump was watching TV & saw @kathygriffin holding the severed head,” OAN’s Liz Wheeler wrote. “He thought it was his dad. My heart is broken.”

Mr. Jennings is no stranger to offensive tweets mocking conservatives, according to an archive of past controversies at the conservative-leaning website Twitchy: joking about Condoleezza Rice’s sexual orientation and channeling the “ghost” of conservative journalist Andrew Breitbart to promote Obamacare are just two such occasions.

On Twitter Wednesday morning, Mr. Trump denounced Ms. Griffin, saying the image disturbed children, particularly Barron: “Kathy Griffin should be ashamed of herself. My children, especially my 11 year old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!”

The first lady has also weighed in, suggesting Ms. Griffin is mentally disturbed.

“As a mother, a wife, and a human being, that photo is very disturbing,” Melania Trump said in a statement, according to CNN. “When you consider some of the atrocities happening in the world today, a photo opportunity like this is simply wrong and makes you wonder about the mental health of the person who did it.”

Ms. Griffin has apologized for the offending photo, but not until after the Secret Service announced it was looking into the matter. On social media a deluge of condemnation united most folks across the political divide and even brought a famous former first daughter to speak out.

“This is vile and wrong. It is never funny to joke about killing a president,” Chelsea Clinton tweeted Tuesday afternoon.

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