Trump Insults Lawmaker’s Appearance to His Face, Tries to Walk It Back — and Makes It Worse With a Brutal ‘Compliment’
President Donald Trump tends to veer off topic when speaking in public, which often leaves listeners either rolling their eyes, confused over his words, or simply laughing out loud. The long-winded politician continued to exhibit that puzzling character trait during his latest address.
Trump, 79, spent over an hour rambling about various topics during his speech at a Republican congressional retreat held in the Kennedy Center on Jan. 6. His constant digressions include a strange observation about Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, who was in attendance.
“The first time I met Jim, I looked at him, and I said, ‘Tough-looking guy.’ But I noticed the ears, they were a little rough,” the head of the GOP told the audience of his supporters. He then joked that some might call it “a little cauliflower,” a reference to Jim Jordan’s distinctive ears from his days as an amateur wrestler at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
After Jordan confirmed he was an ex-wrestler, Trump continued, “I said, ‘Yeah, I could sort of tell.’ I look at the ears, and I can sort of tell.’ But have you had plastic surgery on your ears, Jim? No. Because they look better now than they did the first time. They’ve healed over the years.”
Cauliflower ear, also known as wrestler’s ear, is common among athletes who compete in contact sports like wrestling, boxing, and mixed martial arts.
Trump putting Jordan, 61, on the spot about his deformity in front of his colleagues became a topic of conversation online following the maundering speech.
“So, you don’t like the way his ears look. What’s that all about? Pure pettiness and without class. Yet, you don’t care about a person’s character,” one person wrote about Trump’s remarks in the comment section of an MSN article.
A second commenter on the website expressed, “Has Trump looked in a mirror lately? If he has, he would not call anybody else looking ‘rough.’” Yet another poster wrote, “Just a demented old man picking on his own puppet. Beyond delusional.” Another person added, ” A new low and this was a gutter level ramble.”
Social media users then shifted to slapping Trump with a brutal reminder of what took place during his campaign in 2024.
“The man in the White House wants to mock the ears? If I were him, I wouldn’t mention ears because it brings to light the fact that his ears bear absolutely no mark at all of having been ‘grazed’ by a bullet! That being said, ‘Gym Jordan’ is as sick as the rest of the motley crew in this regime,” someone declared.
Trump’s mention of ears resurrected unproven conspiracy theories about the July 2024 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, that left the then-presidential candidate’s right ear scarred.
Critics have speculated that the attempt on his life was staged, pointing to how quickly he appeared to recover in the weeks that followed the incident.
The controversy surrounding the Butler incident took center stage at the 2024 Republican National Convention, which opened just two days after Trump was wounded. The billionaire real estate magnate attended the event with a huge white gauze over his ear.
Delegates at the event wore similar ear bandages as a symbolic show of solidarity. While Republicans embraced the trend, many Democrats mocked the MAGA base for demonstrating what they saw as blind loyalty.
Trump spotlighting Jordan’s wrestler’s ear also reminded the House Judiciary Committee Chairman’s political opponents of a highly-publicized scandal involving misconduct. Dozens of members of the OSU wrestling team accused team physician Dr. Richard Strauss of abusing his patients for 20 years.
Jordan worked as an assistant wrestling coach at OSU from 1987 to 1995, while Strauss’ inappropriate behavior with students allegedly took place. Former wrestlers claimed Jordan and other coaches were aware of the abuse and attempted to cover it up. Jordan has denied having any knowledge of Strauss supposedly preying on the young men.
In 2018, Trump sided with Jordan against the accusations that he did not protect the OSU athletes from mistreatment by Strauss. The father of five children said he “100 percent” believed Jordan with “no question in mind.”
Trump’s support for the Ohio congressman played out again in 2020. After being acquitted by the U.S. Senate in an impeachment trial, he said Jordan must be “very proud of his body” since he rarely saw the two-time NCAA Division I wrestling champion in a jacket.
