Democrats are expected to win the House, while Senate control remains possible
The Guardian’s Adam Gabbatt reported that Donald Trump repeatedly broke from prepared campaign remarks to deliver unsolicited assessments of men’s appearances at rallies across the United States during the two weeks before The Guardian’s October 23 report, as he sought votes for Republicans. Republican Senator Jon Husted was a recurring subject. Trump discussed him at a Youngstown, Ohio, rally held to support Husted and continued the commentary at a Kentucky appearance when Husted was absent.
The Guardian said Democrats were expected to win the House comfortably next month and could also clinch the Senate, with the party retaining a chance in Mississippi, Kansas and Kentucky. Trump has responded with frequent campaign activity and has repeatedly told voters to pretend he is on the ballot. The publication said it was unclear whether his comments about appearance represented a deliberate strategy or a recurring pattern.
At the Youngstown rally earlier this month, held to support Republican Senator Jon Husted, Trump, 80, said he had recently learned that Husted, 59, played football at university and that this prompted him to conduct a physical assessment. “I don’t do this with men very often. I started examining his body, because I didn’t know he was a great athlete. And I looked and I watched up and down. I looked at his ass and I looked at the whole – and then I looked at his hands. Look at his hands. He’s got these, like, claws,” Trump said. He told Husted, “You are a great athlete,” and then, “Congratulations.” Husted has represented Ohio in the Senate since 2025.
The Guardian’s October 23 report said an audience in Kentucky “this week” heard Trump extend the assessment, with Husted absent from the event. “I examined his ass,” the president said of Husted. “And then I looked at his shoulders. I looked at his feet. I looked at his hand. I looked at his jawline. Studied him. He’s got a jawline.” Trump continued: “I then patted him on the shoulder, and it was like a piece of steel. I’m still recovering.” The Guardian assessed that Trump appeared unlikely to stop making the comments because he had begun speaking about Husted even while campaigning for other candidates in other states. It said Trump “shows no sign of slowing.”
The Guardian said Husted’s physique had most captivated Trump, but other candidates also drew his attention. Ed Gallrein, a 68-year-old Navy Seal turned dairy farmer whom The Guardian said does not color his hair, was one. Trump said, “He’s going to be, he’s going to be a perfect man.” Trump recalled when he was looking for a candidate to run against the incumbent Republican congressman Thomas Massie – whom The Guardian said Trump does not like – in Kentucky. “I needed somebody good, and this guy walks through the door,” Trump said of Gallrein. “I said, look at this beautiful guy.”
On Friday at a rally in Dalton, Georgia, Trump compared 39-year-old Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff with Pee-wee Herman, a comedy character whose popularity peaked in the mid-1980s. The Guardian described Republican challenger Mike Collins as “stilted” and said his white hairstyle approached a mullet. Early in the speech, Trump broke from an appeal to people to “really get out there” and vote. “Somebody said he’s a good-looking man,” Trump said of Ossoff. “I don’t think he’s a good-looking man. I actually think Mike Collins is a good-looking man – and he’s all man. He’s all man. I’m not sure about Ossoff.” Trump then turned to 72-year-old billionaire Republican Rick Jackson, who is running for Georgia governor, saying, “I actually think that Rick Jackson’s a very handsome, distinguished, beautiful-looking guy.”
The Guardian listed further examples. Tim Sheehy, a US senator from Montana, was called “a very handsome guy”; an unidentified group of generals were dubbed “beautiful guys”; and Trump praised Ted Nugent’s “beautiful-looking son.”
At a rally in Oklahoma this month, Trump said he had seen three “big, strong, good-lucking guys” waiting in line outside the event. He asked, “Where are they?” and told the crowd, “You can’t miss ’em: big, strong, handsome Oklahoma studs.” He summoned two men onto the stage and said, “These are studs,” followed by, “Wow.” The Guardian said the audience laughed nervously and was unsure how to react.
The remarks drew different on-air responses. CNN host Anderson Cooper, who is gay, dubbed Trump the “assman-in-chief” while playing clips. He said, “There’s nothing at all unusual – and certainly nothing gay – about a president who dances daily to YMCA and who publicly pined for a reprise of Betty Buckley in Cats.” On Fox News, host Jesse Watters argued that Trump’s language reflected how some men speak. Watters said, “Trump says a lot of stuff we all think but we don’t say. Sometimes it sounds a little gay. But he can get away with it because he’s straight.” He added, “This is what guys say,” and continued: “He was saying this guy John Husted is a phenomenal athlete, he was an all-American corner back, national champion, division three football player and he’s got what it takes.”
The Guardian said Republicans were expected to struggle, while Democrats were expected to win the House comfortably next month and could even clinch the Senate. The party also retained a chance in what The Guardian called deep red states: Mississippi, Kansas and Kentucky. The publication said those expectations prompted a flurry of Trump activity, including repeated instructions to voters to pretend he was on the ballot, and described Trump’s popularity as historically low. It said it remained unclear whether Trump’s appearance comments were a carefully thought-out strategy or a recurring pattern, and whether trumpeting men’s looks could turn Republicans’ fortunes around.
The Guardian described Trump’s departures from prepared remarks to tout candidates’ looks as becoming as much a feature of his speeches as his warnings that Democrats were aiming to turn the United States into a cross between Pol Pot’s Cambodia and the Australia of Mad Max. The publication assessed that the comments seemed unlikely to help Republicans on November 3.