Republican Sen. Jon Husted is letting the world know that he’s hitting the gym ahead of President Donald Trump’s next Ohio visit, following the president’s repeated comments about his physique.
“Don’t worry, I was in the weight room this morning working out. I don’t want to let him down,” Husted told reporters Tuesday, according to the Daily Beast.
Trump is scheduled to return to Ohio on Wednesday to campaign for Husted, who is running against former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. It will be the president’s third visit to the state in less than 30 days, Husted said.
The Daily Beast reported that Husted has been playing along with Trump’s "strange fascination" about his body, including comments the president made during an Oct. 12 rally in Ohio.
Trump, referring to Husted’s college football career, told the crowd that he had started “examining his body” after learning the MAGA senator had been an athlete.
“And I looked, and I watched up and down, and I looked at this a—,” Trump said, before commenting on Husted’s hands. “I got it, you are a great athlete.”
Trump has returned to the subject at other rallies, describing the senator’s legs as “a pile of muscle,” the Daily Beast reported.
Husted joked about the attention during a Fox News appearance over the weekend, saying he has told his wife he needed to get back to the gym to “keep up my reputation.”
“We’re an athletic family,” he added. “We try to stay in shape.”