Why Trump can’t stop talking about the ‘ass’ of a male senator

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It’s not that interesting that President Donald Trump told a story about a male senator’s “ass.”

What’s interesting is that he keeps on doing it.

Perhaps it’s more fun to talk about glutes than gas prices .

Anyone who has been paying much attention to the closing week of the 2026 election knows by now that Trump has a thing for Sen. Jon Husted’s rear end.

CNN’s Anderson Cooper did a good job of documenting Trump’s views on Husted’s physique.

Trump appears legitimately to think that this angle is working for both of them — and he’s making a choice to talk about it rather than other things, like, say, the Iran war he started but can’t end or the prices he is struggling to bring down.

The US president specifically cited his praise of Husted’s body and credited it with improving Husted’s poll numbers during a phone interview with Fox Business personality Larry Kudlow on Sunday.

For the record, Kudlow had not asked about Husted, Husted’s rear end, or even the Ohio Senate race, but just generally about whether the GOP could hang on to its majority. After that, Trump went on an extended riff about Husted, arguing the rear end story has been a turning point in the Ohio Senate race.

Here’s a taste of the interview . Kudlow’s reactions are telling.

It’s not clear which polls Trump was referring to, but the most recent polling suggests the Ohio Senate race is — as it has been — very tight, with maybe a slight edge to former Sen. Sherrod Brown .

Husted said on Fox News that the attention has him thinking about pumping some iron.

“I told my wife, I’m like, ‘Hey, I think I got to get down to the gym and keep up my reputation,’” Husted said Saturday.

Anyone would rather be Husted than Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general running for Senate who Trump routinely insults for his clothing choices and who the president said can be “ a pain in the ass .”

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Trump’s political instincts are unique and have a proven track record, but he’s getting more and more into thumbing his nose at convention. Rather than commiserate about the high gas prices frustrating American voters, he tried to argue at a rally in Georgia that the US is making a “fortune” because of his war on Iran.

“I could just see the fake headlines,” Trump said Saturday. “‘President Trump is talking about all the money they’re making while people are suffering at the pump.’ That’ll be the headline. But I said, ‘I don’t give a damn. I’m gonna say it. We’re making a freaking fortune.’”

Trump also doesn’t care if people want to hear about Husted’s body. He is convinced the narrative about Husted’s physique is a winner.

During a campaign stop in Michigan on Sunday, Trump riffed on the story to drive home that he’s usually more interested in the bodies of women, particularly female rappers who have endorsed him.

Trump teased a compliment for the Republican running for Senate in Michigan, former Rep. Mike Rogers, too.

“I’d say that about your ass too, Mike, if it gets you a guaranteed victory,” Trump said.

A day earlier, standing next to his wife, Melania, after voting in South Florida , Trump said he did Husted a favor by bringing his physique to people’s attention.

At a rally in North Carolina, Trump said that by the time he first stopped telling the story, Husted’s polling numbers had improved by 10 points.

Trump obviously has a long history of comments about people’s bodies, such as when he talked about size of golf legend Arnold Palmer’s genitalia during the 2024 presidential campaign. Or when he would discuss women on the radio, including his own daughter, during discussions with Howard Stern. That, of course, was before Trump launched his political career.

For whatever reason, he seems to think this talk about Husted works as part of his campaign rally schtick.

Gender roles and masculinity have been in the spotlight during Trump’s second term, with the administration and its allies particularly focused on transgender issues .

And while Trump is generally opposed to exercise for himself, projecting a muscular take on masculinity is important for many of his top male administration officials.

Trump’s secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, who posts workout videos to his social media feeds, wants to make testosterone therapy more accessible and common in the military.

Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

His secretary of health and human services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is notable for working out in jeans in videos posted online.

Trump bragged on Kennedy’s physique during a rally in Florida last week.

“Seriously, did anybody ever see the build, the body on Bob — did anybody ever see this?” Trump asked the crowd . “He’s got the body of a 30-year-old.”

Trump isn’t the only person praising the bodies of a fellow politician in the campaign’s closing stretch.

Former President Barack Obama talked about Abdul El-Sayed, the Democrats’ nominee for US Senate in Michigan, who prefers to campaign in a black V-neck.

“He’s just a jock,” Obama said at a rally over the weekend. “You see those big guns, that’s why he wears those T-shirts. I never campaigned in a T-shirt. I ain’t got those big guns.”

Obama was less kind to Brown, who is running to get his old job back in Ohio, and who Obama also supported at a rally this weekend.

“He still is wearing the same suit he was in when I met him 20 years ago!” Obama said, offering the criticism as evidence that Brown is looking out for Ohioans, not himself.

Not that it will have much bearing on how they legislate, but Ohio voters will now choose between the guy with the old suit preferred by Obama and the guy with the toned rear preferred by Trump.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

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唐纳德·特朗普总统讲述了一个关于一位男参议员“屁股”的故事，这其实没什么特别的。

有趣的是，他一直在这样做。

或许谈论臀部比谈论汽油价格更有趣。

任何密切关注2026年大选最后一周的人现在都知道，特朗普对参议员乔恩·赫斯特的臀部情有独钟。

CNN 的安德森·库珀很好地记录了特朗普对赫斯特德体格的看法。

特朗普似乎真的认为这个角度对他们双方都有好处——他选择谈论这个话题，而不是谈论其他事情，比如他发动却无法结束的伊朗战争，或者他正在努力降低的物价。

美国总统在周日接受福克斯商业频道主持人拉里·库德洛的电话采访时，特别提到了他对赫斯特身材的赞扬，并认为这提高了赫斯特的民调支持率。

需要说明的是，库德洛并没有问及哈斯特德本人、哈斯特德的臀部事件，甚至也没有问及俄亥俄州参议员竞选，他只是泛泛地问共和党能否保住多数席位。之后，特朗普就哈斯特德大放厥词，声称“臀部事件”是俄亥俄州参议员竞选的转折点。

以下是采访节选。库德洛的反应很有意思。

目前还不清楚特朗普指的是哪些民调，但最近的民调显示，俄亥俄州参议员竞选——和以往一样——非常胶着，前参议员谢罗德·布朗可能略占优势。

哈斯特德在福克斯新闻上表示，大家的关注让他开始考虑举重锻炼。

“我跟我妻子说，‘嘿，我觉得我得去健身房锻炼，保持我的名声，’”赫斯特德周六说道。

任何人都宁愿成为赫斯特，也不愿成为肯·帕克斯顿，这位正在竞选参议员的德克萨斯州总检察长经常因为穿着打扮而侮辱他，总统还说他“很烦人”。

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

特朗普的政治直觉独树一帜，且过往业绩也证明了这一点，但他越来越不按常理出牌。面对高油价令美国选民感到沮丧，他非但没有表示同情，反而在佐治亚州的一次集会上辩称，美国正因其对伊朗的战争而“大发横财”。

“我都能想象到那些假新闻标题了，”特朗普周六说。“‘特朗普总统在吹嘘他们赚了多少钱，而民众却在油价高企的地方苦苦挣扎。’这肯定会成为头条新闻。但我说，‘我才不在乎。我就是要这么说。我们赚得盆满钵满。’”

特朗普也不在乎人们是否想听关于赫斯特身材的报道。他坚信，关于赫斯特体格的报道会很受欢迎。

周日，特朗普在密歇根州的一次竞选活动中，借用了这个故事来强调，他通常对女性的身体更感兴趣，尤其是那些支持他的女说唱歌手。

特朗普还暗示要赞扬密歇根州共和党参议员候选人、前众议员迈克·罗杰斯。

“如果这样能让你确保胜利，我也会这么说你的屁股，迈克，”特朗普说。

前一天，特朗普在南佛罗里达州投票后，站在妻子梅拉尼娅旁边说，他帮了哈斯特一个忙，让人们注意到他的体格。

在北卡罗来纳州的一次集会上，特朗普表示，当他第一次停止讲述这个故事时，赫斯特的民调支持率已经上升了 10 个百分点。

特朗普显然有长期发表关于他人身材评论的记录，例如在2024年总统竞选期间，他曾谈论过高尔夫传奇人物阿诺德·帕尔默的生殖器尺寸。又比如，在与霍华德·斯特恩的电台节目中，他曾公开谈论女性，甚至包括他自己的女儿。当然，这些都是在特朗普开启政治生涯之前的事了。

不知出于什么原因，他似乎认为谈论赫斯特德可以作为他竞选集会上的噱头。

在特朗普的第二个任期内，性别角色和男性气质一直是关注的焦点，特朗普政府及其盟友尤其关注跨性别问题。

虽然特朗普本人通常反对锻炼，但对他的许多高级男性政府官员来说，展现强壮的男性气概却很重要。

特朗普的国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯经常在社交媒体上发布健身视频，他希望让睾酮疗法在军队中更容易获得和普及。

Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

他的卫生与公众服务部部长小罗伯特·F·肯尼迪因在网上发布的视频中穿着牛仔裤健身而闻名。

上周在佛罗里达州的一次集会上，特朗普吹嘘了肯尼迪的体格。

“说真的，有人见过鲍勃的身材吗？有人见过吗？”特朗普问在场的人群。“他有着30岁男人的身材。”

在竞选的最后阶段，特朗普并不是唯一一个称赞其他政治人物身材的人。

前总统巴拉克·奥巴马谈到了民主党在密歇根州的美国参议员候选人阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德，他喜欢穿着黑色V领衫进行竞选活动。

“他就是个运动健将，”奥巴马周末在一次集会上说。“你看他那身肌肉，就知道他为什么穿T恤。我竞选的时候从来没穿过T恤。我可没他那身肌肉。”

奥巴马对布朗的态度就没那么友好了，布朗正在竞选重返俄亥俄州的原职，奥巴马本周末还在一次集会上支持了他。

“他现在还穿着20年前我见到他时穿的那套西装！”奥巴马说道，并以这一批评作为证据，证明布朗是在为俄亥俄州人民着想，而不是为自己着想。

虽然这不会对他们的立法方式产生太大影响，但俄亥俄州的选民现在将在奥巴马偏爱的穿着旧西装的候选人和特朗普偏爱的拥有健美臀部的候选人之间做出选择。