Of all of the questions seemingly occupying the thoughts of Donald J. Trump — his perceived persecution, the malice of his enemies, the scale of his rallies — has one which may be most constant: different folks’s appears to be like.
The previous president’s obsession with appears to be like dates again many years, however has reignited with the candidacy of Kamala Harris, a Democrat whose look he has repeatedly talked about this month in comparisons to his opponent’s. on the cover of Time magazine to that of “essentially the most stunning actress who ever lived.”
Mr Trump additionally in contrast her face to the duvet of Time of Sophia Loren, his wife Melaniaafter which, lastly, in a jaw-dropper for a person identified for such jaw-droppers, claiming that he was “a lot better wanting than her.”
“A lot better,” Mr. Trump, 78. “I am a better looking person than Kamala.”
By that logic, it additionally makes him higher wanting than his ex-model spouse, in his estimation. And whereas such an announcement was met with bemusement and amusement by his Democratic opponents, Mr. Trump’s fixation on different folks’s look has been used each as a devastating political instrument and — in response to consultants in male psychology — a method of strengthening his personal. vanity.
“I do not suppose there’s ever been a president who’s been extra obsessive about how different folks look,” mentioned Michael Kimmel, the creator of Masculinity in America. “It is a man for whom appears to be like are every thing, from his pretend tan to his coiffure to mendacity about his weight. He’s obsessive about physicality.
Others famous Ms. Harris’ look. On the Democratic Nationwide Conference this week, Invoice Clinton described Ms Harris as having a “thousand watt smile”. And even in 2013. Barack Obama made information when he mentioned she was “the best-looking legal professional basic within the nation.”
However Mr. Trump’s feedback appear commonplace. Certainly, lots of Mr. Trump’s well-honed marketing campaign insults contain folks’s private look, a option to challenge dominance over different folks, Mr. Kimmel and different psychological well being consultants say, by projecting energy over your opponents.
The examples contact on Mr. Trump’s election profession: “Little Marco,” for instance, a nickname he utilized in 2016 to chop off Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who’s about 5-foot-8, or casually implying that the previous Governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie was a “fat pig”.
Whereas Mr. Trump’s insults abound, there’s additionally an odd corollary: Mr. Trump usually laces his public feedback with reward, typically going out of his means, for instance, to go with males’s appears to be like.
Take it his triumphant rally after the debate in late June in Chesapeake, Va., the place Mr. Trump referred to as the Virginia governor’s son, Glenn Youngkin, “a lot better wanting” than his father, advised a former congressman he was “wanting good” and mentioned that Derrick Anderson, a Republican candidate for Congress, was “like a film star.”
Extra just lately, Mr. Trump additionally opined that among the best traits of his rival — Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio — was his appearancetogether with his beard and glowing blue eyes.
Mr. Trump’s flamboyant speech additionally often lavished reward on different males’s appears to be like as he recalled an interplay with a negotiator despatched by the Mexican president throughout his time within the Oval Workplace.
“He despatched me this very good-looking man: superb, so good-looking, so superbly dressed,” Mr. Trump mentioned throughout a February speech in Maryland in regards to the Mexican delegate, including that he wished to ask about the price of his go well with. “He was a good-looking satan.”
Andrew Reiner, a senior lecturer at Towson College who has written extensively on masculinity, mentioned that “as loopy because it sounds, that is really progress for him.”
“Trump would at all times, up to now, go straight for the jugular,” he mentioned. “Now he leads with a praise and follows with a blow.”
The listing of males who’ve gained Mr Trump’s reward contains a variety of celebrities, politicians and authorities officers, together with Cary Grant and Sidney Poitier; former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan; varied members of the Secret Service; and a bunch of American pilots he met as president, whom he referred to as “essentially the most stunning human beings I’ve ever seen.”
“Not my factor, however they’re stunning — not my factor, not even a bit — However they’re stunning: central casting,” he mentioned at an occasion in February. “Higher wanting than Tom Cruise, however taller.”
“Central casting” is one thing Mr Trump – a former actuality TV star – appears notably desirous about. He has lengthy forged himself as a superb arbiter of feminine magnificence — a boast courting again many years to Mr. Trump’s days as a rich Manhattan bachelor — frequently surrounding himself with an array of enticing, usually well-heeled aides, each in authorities and and in The Apprentice. One explicit object of his affection is his daughter Ivanka, whose beauty he has praised more than once.
Avram Weiss, a psychologist and creator of “Hidden in Plain Sight: How Males’s Fears of Ladies Form Their Intimate Relationships,” mentioned Mr. Trump’s flattery and jabs might merely be rooted in his personal insecurities.
“He is extremely involved about his personal look,” Mr. Weiss mentioned, including: “It is a king of the hill recreation: If different males look much less enticing, then he appears to be like extra enticing.”
At occasions, Mr. Trump’s willingness to go with his fellow males’s bodily options usually suggests both grudging respect or real respect. It is a behavior that was just lately on show throughout Mr. Trump’s prison trial, when he commented on the looks of the decide within the case, Juan M. Murchan, on a number of events, together with in a post-sentencing speech through which he mentioned the justice “appears to be like like an angel however is definitely a satan”.
“He appears to be like so good and gentle,” Mr. Trump added.
After all, Mr. Trump has typically used a praise as a setup for humiliation, comparable to when he was speaking about Andrew Gillum, a former Florida gubernatorial candidate who later went to rehab for drug dependancy. On a number of events, Mr Trump praised Mr Gillum’s look earlier than including that he “turned out to be a crack addict”.
Additionally it is clear that Mr. Trump doesn’t just like the reward of different males, particularly Mr. Obama.
“They are saying, ‘He is so good-looking, oh, Obama is so good-looking, he is such an ideal speaker,'” Mr. Trump mentioned final 12 months in Pennsylvania. “What does he say? He does not say something.
And as Mr. Trump’s remarks about his comparative look with Ms. Harris counsel, the previous president additionally likes to listen to good issues about himself, even when he is the one doling out the compliments. In the course of the Manhattan prison trial, for instance, he posted that – apparently the other – he was not sleeping within the courtroom, however just resting on his own “beautiful blue eyes”.
Nor does the previous president appear immune to easily looking for a praise, such because the second in 2022 when Mr. Trump addressed a crowd in Ohio, implying that he noticed a gorgeous character within the crowd.
“Oh, what a good-looking…” Mr. Trump started.
Then he paused.
“President,” he added to himself.
The group roared.
