‘He’s got a jawline’: In the midterm fight over masculinity, Trump keeps grading men on their looks

President Donald Trump has taken to rating Republican candidates on their appearance at campaign events, an unusual midterm tactic that arrives as both parties compete to present themselves as the home of authentic masculinity. At a Kentucky rally Saturday, he described inspecting Ohio Sen. Jon Husted from head to toe, and said Husted gained 9 or 10 points in polls afterward, though he named no source. He also called Ed Gallrein, the former Navy SEAL who beat Rep. Thomas Massie in a May primary, "central casting." In Georgia, he praised gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson and Senate nominee Rep. Mike Collins as good-looking. Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall got warm words on Monday but no remark about his looks, and Trump told a Dallas crowd that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton may not be the best-looking man he has seen, before urging a vote for him anyway, according to MS NOW.

Democrats are working the same ground. Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan has accused Republican Mike Rogers of "beta energy," James Talarico of Texas has rejected Republican jabs about low testosterone, and party social accounts have posted glamorized edits of El-Sayed and Sen. Jon Ossoff.

Summarized by PolitiKool from MS NOW’s reporting. Read the full story at MS NOW →