Brigitte Gabriel, a pro-Donald Trump pundit and founder of the anti-Muslim group Act for America, was mocked online after she questioned why Democrats are "so intimidated" by former President Donald Trump’s "masculinity."
You can see her tweet below.
Gabriel is not the first MAGA minion to extoll the virtues of Trump's alleged masculinity and she won't be the last.
For a considerable time, there has been a presumption that American politicians should display a particular facade—one of strength, influence and invincibility.
Recent research undertaken by Penn State academics discovered these elevated forms of masculinity could potentially elucidate the reasons behind support for Trump during the 2016 presidential election and in the lead-up to the 2020 election.
After conducting several studies, the researchers concluded individuals who uphold the concept of "hegemonic masculinity"—a culturally glorified manifestation of masculinity that stipulates men should be forceful, resilient and dominant—were more prone to voting for Trump and harboring favorable opinions about him.
Many mocked Gabriel for her post and called out Trump's history of terrible behavior.
Republicans have a record of devoting significant time to what they perceive as a calculated nationwide effort to attack masculinity.
In April 2022, then-Fox News personality Tucker Carlson released the trailer for The End of Men, a film which starts off warning viewers about dropping testosterone levels, includes footage of shirtless White men wrestling, doing push-ups, chopping wood, firing guns and even lying naked while getting their groin tanned.
The content of the trailer for The End of Men is particularly odd given Carlson's long record of homophobic commentary, which has received more coverage in recent months due to his repeated attacks against Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, whom he has mocked for taking paternity leave and "trying to figure out how to breastfeed."
But the notion that masculinity is being attacked—namely by the left-wing—is a popular one among Republicans like Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, who last year accused "the Left" of hurting "the future of the American man" and went on to claim the "deconstruction of America begins with and depends on the deconstruction of American men."
