President Donald Trump, at a rally in Texas Tuesday, continued his recent pattern of making unsolicited physical assessments of politicians, this time focusing on the fingers of Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio).
Trump, who was campaigning for Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) in a U.S. Senate race, described Husted’s fingers as resembling “sausages” after an earlier assessment of the senator's physique.
“I made the mistake of saying that I started off by studying his ass; I just wanted to say —,” Trump began, referencing prior comments he made about Husted. “And then I looked at his feet, and they were massive. Then I looked at his hands. See, these hands? These are nice hands, they’re fine. He had fingers like sausages,” he added.
This is not the first time Trump has made comments about Husted’s body. He made similar remarks about Husted’s fingers at a rally in Michigan on Monday. Trump has also claimed that his prior comments about Husted’s physique led to an increase in the senator's polling numbers. However, current polling indicates Husted's Democratic opponent, Sherrod Brown, leads in a majority of recent polls.
During the Texas rally, Trump also turned his attention to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, gesturing toward him and suggesting Paxton's body might not qualify for such an assessment. “Maybe I should do that with Ken Paxton. But I’m not sure your body is going to qualify,” Trump said. “I’m going to do it with Ken.”
Commentators have noted Trump's fixation on Husted's body parts. Lawrence O'Donnell on MSNBC's "MS NOW" argued that Trump's mental state appeared to deteriorate as he discussed Husted, a figure unfamiliar to his Texas audience. O'Donnell stated that Trump's comments were "noticeably crazier" than previous remarks about the senator.
"Morning Joe" also discussed Trump's rally comments, with host Mika Brzezinski highlighting Trump's remarks about Paxton, suggesting the president found a male body he didn't like.