'Getting out of hand': GOP candidates are battling to show their 'masculine toughness' and 'testosterone'

When Russian President Vladimir Putin was photographed shirtless during the Barack Obama years, many far-right Republicans argued that the United States would be better off if Obama could be that macho. Quite a few progressives responded by mocking their messaging as pathetic and buffoonish, yet that Republican obsession with hyper-masculinity continues.

In an article published by Politico on July 10, journalist Adam Wren focuses on a trend in the 2024 GOP presidential race: male candidates trying to win over voters by showing how "masculine" they are.

"Francis Suarez is bragging about placing sixth in an Independence Day 5K in Cedar Rapids, Iowa," Wren observes. "Vivek Ramaswamy, a former nationally ranked junior tennis player, is flexing his weekly pickup victories over former collegiate athletes at a Life Time Fitness outside Des Moines. And Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the muscle-bound, 69-year-old longshot Democratic presidential hopeful, went viral for doing pull-ups shirtless at a Gold’s Gym. Even Asa Hutchinson, the 72-year-old former Arkansas governor, is boasting about still playing full-court basketball."

The 2024 election, according to Wren, has "careened into a kind of testosterone primary." And Wren cites GOP frontrunner Donald Trump's influence as a factor.

"Brawn and bravado are in demand, particularly among a GOP base conditioned by a steady dose of both in the Trump era," the reporter observes. "Thirst traps are a new wedge issue."

Historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez discussed the Republican obsession with hypermasculinity in her 2020 book "Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation." And that mindset, she says, is showing up in 2024's GOP presidential primary.

Du Mez told Politico, "Republican candidates are now needing to play to a base that has really been defined by the Trump presidency and just the Trump persona. Now, to win as a Republican, you need to play that game. This kind of masculinity — physical fitness — goes hand in hand with masculine toughness."