Trump went back to talking about the body of Ohio Senator Jon Husted at a rally in Greenville, North Carolina on Tuesday, and this time he added a review of the senator’s backside and feet.
“I’m studying his body. I’ve never studied the body of a man before. It’s not my thing,” Trump told the crowd. “Nothing wrong with it, of course. But it’s never been my thing. But I looked at his [expletive]. I said, ‘His [expletive], [expletive], it’s like a pile of muscle.’ Then I looked at his legs and I said, ‘Man, his feet are big.'”
The same speech included Trump suggesting that hurricanes be renamed “watercanes.”
It was at least the third time in nine days that Trump has used a campaign speech to talk about Jon Husted and his body.
It started on October 12 in Youngstown, Ohio. With Husted on stage, Trump told the audience, “I don’t do this with men very often,” then said he started examining Husted’s body after learning he had been a great athlete. Trump said he looked Husted “up and down,” looked at his backside, and then moved on to his hands, which he said looked “like claws.” Later that night he pointed to Husted’s jawline and told the crowd, “I never studied him, and now I study him.”
Five days later, at Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights, Trump went back for more. “I stood right over here, and I examined his [expletive]. I never did that with a man before,” he said. He then listed Husted’s shoulders, feet, hands and jawline, said patting Husted on the shoulder felt like touching “a piece of steel,” and told the crowd that anyone who picked a fight with the senator at a bar would be “very unfortunate.” Trump also claimed his attention had boosted Husted “nine or 10 points” in the polls since the Youngstown rally.
The fascination traces back to former NFL coach Jon Gruden. Trump says Gruden told him Jon Husted was a standout football player at the University of Dayton, where Husted played defensive back and Gruden was his teammate. Gruden has endorsed Husted and introduced Trump at a rally near Dayton on October 4. “I didn’t know that because he doesn’t talk about that,” Trump said in Youngstown.
The comments are landing in the middle of a tight race. Jon Husted, 59, was appointed to the Senate in January 2025 by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine to fill the seat JD Vance gave up when he became vice president. Because he was appointed instead of elected, Husted has to win a special election on November 3 to keep the seat for the rest of the term. His opponent is Democrat Sherrod Brown, who represented Ohio in the Senate for 18 years before losing to Bernie Moreno in 2024. A CNN poll had Brown leading Husted by six points. Trump told the Youngstown crowd that he has now campaigned twice for Husted, when most senators only get one rally.
All the praise is going to a senator with a record of opposing LGBTQ rights in Ohio. As a state lawmaker, Husted voted for a ban on same sex marriage, and as lieutenant governor he criticized DeWine for vetoing a bill that would have banned gender affirming care for minors.
The moment has become a running joke on cable news. On Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough said Trump has “become quite the admirer of the male physique.” Newsmax host Rob Schmitt looked stunned after the network aired the Youngstown clip, and on CNN’s State of the Union, Dana Bash asked Scott Jennings to explain the Kentucky remarks.
