Donald Trump s Manhood Is No Side Issue

Donald Trump’s Manhood Is No Side Issue — It’s His Entire Campaign

March 4, 2016

Donald Trump made American presidential history during Thursday night’s Fox News Republican debate in Detroit. He became, as far as I can tell, the first major presidential candidate ever to tout the size of his genitalia as a campaign issue.

The topic had initially been raised by Marco Rubio on February 28 at a rally in Virginia. Referring to Trump’s stubby fingers, a longtime sore point for the mogul, Rubio teased: “You know what they say about men with small hands — you can’t trust them.”

Trump’s reply came about 10 minutes into the March 3 debate, during an exchange about the gutter tone of the GOP campaign. “He referred to my hands,” Trump complained. “If they’re small, something else must be small. I guarantee you, there’s no problem. I guarantee.”


The unconventional debating tactic drew roars from the audience and dominated post-debate media and Twitter response. Pundits from right to left were tut-tutting that the public’s fascination with Trump’s endowment distracted from the campaign’s crucial policy issues. Typical was this tweet from human rights maven (and former Forward staffer) Philip Gourevitch: “How much press attention has been given Trump promising more US torture & war crimes vs. him guaranteeing the size of his junk?”