The rivalry between presidential hopefuls Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis has reached new levels of absurdity, as their supporters have begun arguing over who is manlier when sweating.
While speaking in Oklahoma over the weekend, the Florida governor was seen perspiring heavily while attempting to convince local Republicans to back him over Trump.
Far-right figures such as Laura Loomer, who Trump reportedly wanted to hire for his campaign, quickly attempted to use the incident to criticize the Republican politician.
“’Never let them see you sweat.’ Real pic of @RonDeSantis in Oklahoma today,” Loomer tweeted. “Apparently his billionaire donors didn’t budget for air conditioning or deodorant on the campaign trail. Yikes.”
Some users with an apparent fixation on the Florida governor’s nipples even accused DeSantis of being “disrespectful” for sweating.
“Ron DeSantis looked disgusting—nipples protruding—in his sweatsoaked white shirt. Very very disrespectful,” a user wrote. “Very very disrespectful.”
The seemingly inconsequential event gained such widespread attention among Trump supporters that backers of DeSantis had to defend sweating in response.
“I equate sweating with hard work, but I grew up in the country where that is normal,” one DeSantis supporter wrote. “The Trump World acolytes who live their lives in cities have a hard time relating to that perspective.”
Photographs of Trump sweating and looking disheveled were also spread in an attempt to knock down the criticisms of DeSantis.
“I don’t want to hear another word from Trump World about @RonDeSantis sweating for America while giving a campaign speech,” the account added.
“DeSantis is sweating because of a barn in Oklahoma. Trump is sweating because of serious federal charges. They are not the same,” one user wrote.
Not to be outdone, Trump supporters went on to argue that the former president, who was recently indicted for mishandling classified documents, was undoubtedly more manly when sweating than DeSantis.
“Trump is going through two indictments and I haven’t seen him sweat like this,” wrote one.
Trump currently holds a substantial lead over DeSantis in the polls. The DeSantis campaign has not commented on the politician’s sweat issue over the weekend.
