By admin 
Greenville, Ohio —
A day after President Donald Trump offered his latest appraisal of Ohio Sen. Jon Husted’s muscular physique, it had already become a running joke — if not an explicitly stated one — during a GOP gathering in rural western Ohio.
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“I know the president’s been talking about me as a football player and a few other things these days,” Husted said to knowing laughs at the Darke County GOP hog roast, where a crowd of about 300 dined on cuts of pig barbecued just outside.
Trump most recently praised the physical appearance of Husted, a former college football player, during a rally Saturday in northern Kentucky, which borders Ohio.
“I examined his ass, and then I looked at his shoulders. I looked at his feet. I looked at his hand. I looked at his jawline,” Trump said. “I then patted him on the shoulder, and it was like a piece of steel. I’m still recovering.”
Trump has long remarked on the appearances of the people around him in politics, praising those who impress him as “central casting.” But his commentary has ramped up in recent days and been most effusive around Husted, who played football for the University of Dayton when the team won the Division III national title in 1989.
During an earlier rally in Youngstown, Ohio, Trump said he recently learned of Husted’s history with football and looked him “up and down,” including at his “ass” and hands. Trump said Husted does not talk about his athleticism much, but the president added: “Congratulations. Now they finally know.”
Husted leaned on his football background to rally Republicans in attendance for the “fourth quarter” of the election against Democrat Sherrod Brown in one of the country’s most competitive races. Ohio’s other GOP senator, Bernie Moreno, who beat the then-incumbent Brown two years ago, made the most direct reference to Trump’s comments on Husted.
“Unlike the president of the United States, I will not comment on his anatomy, but I will tell you that he’s a really, really good senator,” Moreno told the crowd Sunday, “and I need him there as my partner to make sure that we finish the job that all of you wanted.”
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Ohio State Auditor Keith Faber, who’s running for attorney general, also alluded to Trump’s commentary.
“You heard the president talk about his football prowess,” he said, bringing up his shared time with Husted in the Ohio Legislature. “Yeah, he was a darn good athlete, but he was an even better legislator.”
Trump’s recent riffing on politicians’ looks has not been contained to the Ohio Senate race. During a rally Friday in Georgia, the president compared the appearances of Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff and his Republican challenger, Mike Collins.
“Somebody said, ‘[Ossoff]’s a good-looking man.’ I don’t think he’s a good-looking man,” Trump said. “I actually think Mike Collins is a good-looking man, and he’s all man.”
Trump has also shown he’s willing to criticize the appearance of candidates within his party. Take Ken Paxton, the GOP nominee for Senate in Texas. Trump has repeatedly asked GOP voters to set aside any physical reservations about Paxton, including his fashion sense.
“The fact is, some may not like the way he dresses. I don’t,” Trump said at the GOP’s midterm convention in Dallas. “Although tonight he looked very spiffy in his blue suit.”
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