President Donald Trump drew laughs at an Ohio rally Monday after joking that he took a closer look at Sen. Jon Husted’s body after discovering the Republican had once been a standout college football player.
Trump was campaigning in Youngstown for Husted and Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy when he turned his attention to the senator’s athletic past.
The president said he had been surprised to learn that Husted was an accomplished defensive back at the University of Dayton.
“I don’t do this with men very often,” Trump joked.
He said he started “examining” Husted because he had not previously realized how athletic the senator had been.
“And I looked and I watched up and down,” Trump told the crowd.
Then came the line that triggered laughter from rally-goers.
“I looked at his ass, and I looked at the whole —” Trump said before moving on.
Trump then pointed to Husted’s hands as further evidence of his former football career.
“Look at his hands,” Trump said.
“He’s got these, like, claws. And I got it … you are a great athlete.”
Trump said Husted rarely talks about his athletic accomplishments, which apparently contributed to the president’s surprise.
Husted was an All-American defensive back for the University of Dayton and played on the school’s 1989 Division III championship team.
Trump later continued the jokes after bringing Husted onto the stage.
“I just hit him in the back and I hurt my hand a little bit,” Trump said.
“He’s like a piece of steel.”
The appearance was part of Trump’s effort to support Republican candidates in Ohio ahead of the midterm elections.
Husted is running against former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown.
Trump used much of his speech to attack Brown and urge Ohio voters to keep the Senate seat in Republican hands.
He described Brown as aligned with what he called “Marxists,” “communists” and “anti-American radicals.”
Trump also blamed Democrats for problems involving immigration and the economy and warned supporters that Ohio could suffer under Democratic leadership.
“If you want to stop Ohio from being plundered, ransacked and destroyed like Minnesota is being destroyed … vote for Jon Husted and vote for Vivek Ramaswamy,” Trump said.
He also accused Democrats of wanting to “burn it all down” and urged voters not to allow Brown to return to office.
The rally featured several other high-profile guests.
Former NFL head coach Jon Gruden traveled with Trump to Youngstown and introduced the president at the event, per the New York Post.
Gruden, an Ohio native, was also one of Husted’s college football teammates.
“To maximize our true potential, we gotta believe in our leadership and we gotta do it together,” Gruden told the crowd.
Boxer and social media personality Jake Paul also attended.
Paul, who grew up in Cleveland, warned the audience that Democrats were running candidates he described as “evil.”
“We have to protect this state,” Paul said.
Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, Sen. Bernie Moreno and Rep. Max Miller were also present.
Trump acknowledged Miller during the event but did not invite him onto the stage.
Still, the most memorable moment of the night came from Trump’s unusual description of Husted’s physique.
What began as praise for the senator’s football background quickly turned into one of the rally’s biggest laugh lines, with Trump joking that he had personally inspected enough of Husted to confirm that his athletic reputation was legitimate.
