Donald Trump appeared to say that his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), isn’t weird because he’s “so straight.”
Trump was speaking at a town hall event in LaCross, Wisconsin, yesterday with former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii when he discussed how the Harris-Walz campaign has been calling Republicans – and especially Vance – “weird.”
“They picked this guy,” Trump said, referring to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), who has been vocal about calling Vance and Trump weird. “He is weird! Right? I’m not weird, he’s weird.”
“No, he’s a weird guy, he’s a weird dude,” Trump continued. “You know, they come up with soundbites, they always have soundbites, and one of the things is that J.D. and I are weird.”
Then Trump defended himself and Vance from the weird charges, calling Vance “so straight” and a “top student.”
“This guy is so straight? J.D. is so… He’s doing a great job, smart, top student, great guy, he’s not weird and I’m not weird. I mean, we’re a lot of things, we’re not weird.”
Totally straight and not weird.
This ticket is steeped in a toxicity that wants to be masculine but is not, and a deeply rooted misogyny.
It’s like the quote attributed to Atwood says, that what men fear from women is that they will laugh at them. This “weird” label hits a little too close to that for them to handle.
It’s fantastic. And so obvious.