Hi Rulers, happy Friday! We're dredging into the veepstakes discussion today: Former President Donald Trump “likes the concept” of picking a woman as his running mate. Which woman he picks might have a lot to do with her physical appearance. During his administration, he put a special emphasis on selecting people — both men and women — who looked the part. As the veepstakes have ramped up, plenty of commentators have suggested that his vice presidential pick might be beholden to that same requirement — potentially giving South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, an actual former beauty queen, an edge. “I think he demonstrably sees women as arm candy,” says Gwenda Blair, one of his only woman biographers. “He needs to have good-looking women around him.” The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump is not the first candidate to value physical appearance. Politics has long been an industry that obsesses over looks. Former presidents John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama are still often lauded for their handsomeness. And New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger have served as fodder for plenty of “hottest politician” lists. And countless faux pas have cropped up around looks in politics in the past decade — like the social media firestorm after Obama called Kamala Harris the “best-looking attorney general” in 2013. But no one has made more controversial comments on appearance than Trump, who has been open about how he considers the right appearance an important political asset. In 2016, he said Hillary Clinton lacked a “presidential look.” And, he said, “you need a presidential look.” He also has a long history of attacking political adversaries — especially women — based on their physical appearance. In 2015, he said of Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina: “Look at that face. Would anybody vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?“ Given that history, it’s no surprise that there’s plenty of speculation about the need for his Veep pick to have “the look.” Blair suggests that physical appearance wouldn’t be the only determinant — but it would play into a calculus. While in office, Trump received criticism for the fact that the women around him and on TV supporting him often had a similar look, summed up in one Refinery29 article as “beauty queen.” They often sported long, carefully blown-out hair, smokey eye shadow, glossy lips and tailored dresses, which is perhaps a style that Trump encouraged — he reportedly wanted the women who worked on his White House staff to “dress like women.” That history might add an extra layer of pressure for the women in the ongoing VP contest. So far, Trump has confirmed that Noem and former representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii are on his shortlist. He’s also expected to consider Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, New York Rep. Elise Sefanik, and Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake. (He’s also still considering several men.) While Trump might be especially outspoken about valuing attractiveness, Kathy Barnette, a former Senate candidate who worked on Vivek Ramaswamy’s presidential campaign, says this is a non-partisan phenomenon. Both parties have a habit of selecting politicians — especially women — based on their physical attributes, she says. Alice Stewart, a conservative commentator on CNN and former staffer on several presidential campaigns, and Barnette agree that, across the spectrum, women politicians are up against much harsher judgment. Barnette says that, as she’s navigated politics, she’s often had people make comments on her hair or clothes after a speech, rather than “my ideas.” Stewart cites her experience on Michele Bachmann's 2012 presidential campaign, and Ted Cruz’s 2016 presidential campaign after he chose Fiorina as his running mate. “I can tell you with all certainty that women are held to a different standard in terms of their appearance,” she says. “It's part of what you know going into this field — your first impression is your appearance, and you drive home your impact by being smart and tough.” But the 2024 veepstakes — beauty contest or not — might all be much ado about nothing, says Kelly Dittmar, director of research at the Center for American Women and Politics, since most of the electorate already has strong opinions on Trump. “Trump is going to guide voting behavior,” she says. “The running mate is much more likely to just be co-signing on in a way that probably doesn't have a hugely significant effect on actual vote choice.” Lauren Leader, co-founder of the non-profit All In Together, agrees: “I think that the VP can do more damage than they tend to do good. But overall, people are voting for Trump no matter what, and there is absolutely nothing he can do to deter them.”
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