‘I watched up and down and I looked at his ass...’: Why Trump seems obsessed with praising male physiques

He had done it before, but it has escalated during the campaign for next Tuesday’s midterm elections. The president of the United States, Donald Trump, increasingly unfiltered in public remarks, seems obsessed with the arms, shoulders, hands and faces of his allies. When praising Republican candidates, Trump, rather than highlighting their intelligence or political vision, calls attention to their physical attributes.But, according to the political communication experts consulted by this newspaper, these comments should not be pushed into the realm of homoeroticism. Rather, they are a strategy aimed at emphasizing the candidates’ masculinity — something the creator of the MAGA universe associates with the capacity to lead.Examples have multiplied during the past month of campaigning. There is Senator Jon Husted, who is seeking to renew his seat for Ohio in next Tuesday’s elections. Trump said he inspected his physique closely after learning Husted had played college football. “I don’t do this with men very often,” he said. “I started examining his body because I didn’t know he was a great athlete. I watched up and down and I looked at his ass. And then I looked at his hands, look at his hands, he’s got these like claws...”Or Ed Gallrein, who defeated Republican Thomas Massie in the primaries — Massie had committed the sin of criticizing the president and paid the price by failing to win re-election to his seat in Kentucky. “I needed somebody good, and this guy walks through the door. I said, ‘Look at this beautiful guy!’” Gallrein earned one of Trump’s most common compliments: that he looks like he just walked off a casting call.Casey Kelly is a professor at the University of Nebraska and has just published the book Hard Right: Muscular Rhetoric and the New Nationalism, which examines how the far right has adopted muscles, testosterone and, more broadly, strength as traits that shape its political worldview. He says leaders like Trump not only seek a masculine politics based on domination and toughness, but also fetishize the male body, treating it as an indicator of the nation’s strength. “That is why [Defense Secretary] Pete Hegseth is so worried about the troops’ testosterone levels, despite it having nothing to do with modern combat,” he explains.Praise for the male physique is now more common, but it’s nothing new. Trump has spoken about how handsome leaders as diverse as Syria’s Ahmed al-Sharaa, India’s Narendra Modi, and Prince William are. He has also made remarks that are surprising for their vulgarity, such as when, during the 2024 presidential campaign, he praised golfer Arnold Palmer’s penis size: “Arnold Palmer was all man,” he said. “This man was strong and tough, and I refused to say it, but when he took showers with the other pros they came out of there, they said ‘Oh, my God. That’s unbelievable.’”Vulgarity as a sign of authenticityDaniel Cassino, professor of government and politics at Fairleigh Dickinson University, has closely studied Trump’s tendency to exalt the most masculine traits of his allies and finds two explanations. The first is that he likes to depart from the usual political language, say surprising things, and make himself sound sincere.“There are voters who, when they see someone say something controversial or simply odd — like talking about a man’s behind — think that person must be authentic; that if he expresses himself so candidly about that he will also tell the truth about other things,” he said by video call from his New Jersey office.The second explanation is that these kinds of comments perfectly illustrate the view that the president — and a significant portion of the population — holds regarding gender roles. The university professor asserts that many people in the United States still believe that a man with masculine traits must be a good leader: strong, decisive, logical… And he believes that Trump exploits this idea for his own electoral gain.“Some will say this is good for gender equality because for a long time only women’s bodies were discussed. I don’t share that view, because it feeds a sexual hierarchy that implies a man is suitable for a given office because he is masculine,” Cassino adds.This context explains the attacks on Democratic Senate candidate from Texas, James Talarico. Vice President J. D. Vance and other Republican leaders have made jokes about this moderate progressive with strong Christian values, insinuating — without any basis — that he is homosexual or dubbing him “Talafreako” for not being masculine enough.The question is whether these tactics, a decade after Trump burst onto the scene with his surprise election victory, can work in midterm elections that look like an uphill struggle for Republicans — or whether the illusionist has lost his magic. Cassino notes that Trump’s remarks continue to delight the MAGA base, but that base is increasingly narrow: “He is performing his greatest hits for a progressively smaller audience.”Kelly also uses the “greatest hits” metaphor. For the University of Nebraska professor, Trump repeating the jokes that once worked so well is akin to those artists who had a single hit in the 1980s and keep playing small venues, performing the tune that once brought them fame and fortune over and over. “It’s almost sad to see him repeating the same style, when it seems that formula has already run its course. People may stand there staring, stunned by the absurdity of the situation, but I don’t think it will any longer serve to mobilize voters who weren’t already convinced.”Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition