This edition of “This Week in MAGA masculinity” brings us a bizarre moment from Trump’s speech last Thursday at Dream City Church in Arizona: the kiss.
As the saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” And virtually all the words expressed in the image below — of Donald Trump kissing and hugging former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio — are about the way Trump has turned his toxic masculinity into a political creed.
“I don’t kiss men, but I kissed itTrump said as he introduced Arpaio on stage during a campaign stop in Arizona on Thursday. “We had a real boundary with this man,” Trump said. “People said he was too tough or too – now they’re like, ‘Where’s Sheriff Joe?’ You know, he’s 170 years old, but we want him back. Joe, say something.”
The moment epitomized one of the animating forces in conservative politics: MAGA masculinity. It unites men around an ethos of hypermasculine paranoia, perpetual victimhood, overt rule-breaking and, most importantly, fawning praise for Donald Trump.
Trump managed to distill all this – the paranoia, the transgressive, even anticipatory victimhood – into eight words and a gesture. Arpaio had the praise.
As you may recall, the former sheriff was convicted of contempt of court in Arizona in 2017 for defying court orders and continuing an immigration crackdown that was rife with racial profiling and largely considered illegal (Trump granted Arpaio pardoned shortly afterwards). Arpaio, 91, returned the favor as best he could with a vibrant speech singing Trump’s praises.
He joked about birtherism, the racist conspiracy theory both men perpetuated about President Barack Obama being a foreigner; he seemed to be referring to his legal troubles when he called Trump “the only hero I ever had in my life”; he suggested that Trump is more heroic than the late Sen. John McCain of Arizona; and he argued that Trump’s poll numbers would only rise as the media reported negative stories about him.
Biden’s campaign has already turned the men’s chilling moment into an ad targeting Latinos, a group well-versed in Arpaio’s political terrorism.
The ad is just clever politics. Trump’s embrace of Arpaio was not only a message of his plans for bigoted and illiberal action against immigrants if he is elected president — it also highlighted the dire ties that connect MAGA men: a shared belief in Trump’s greatness and defying responsibility.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
