Amy Acton, the Democratic nominee for Ohio governor whose childhood sexual abuse became fodder for an attack ad by her Republican rival, Vivek Ramaswamy, directly addressed the widely-criticized video on Saturday.

“As you’ve probably heard by now, as a young child, my brother and I experienced a lot of child abuse and neglect. We moved countless times as kids, and even wound up living in a tent in the middle of the winter,” Acton said at a rally in Cleveland, alongside former President Barack Obama and former Sen. Sherrod Brown, who is making a comeback bid to oust Republican Sen. Jon Husted.

“And now, my opponent has chosen to exploit, intentionally, my childhood to save to save his struggling campaign, but it’s not going to work,” Acton said to cheers from the crowd. “It’s not going to work because compassion and decency still matter.”

The former president took his star power to Cleveland to help carry his party across the finish line just 10 days before Election Day. He criticized Ramaswamy by name.

“There’s a decency we should expect from our public officials where the standards of behavior have gotten so low that somebody can run an ad like that,” Obama said. “There’s got to be something inside you where you just say, ‘You know, no office is worth stooping that low.’ Because you know what, character matters.”

Acton and Obama’s comments referred to a 60-second video released by Ramaswamy’s campaign last week that featured her estranged mother, Donna Arthur. In the clip, Arthur calls her daughter a “liar.”

“She lies about her past. She says she grew up living in a tent. None of that is true,” Arthur says in the ad.

Acton has spoken about her and her brother’s difficult shared childhood even before entering politics. She said they were homeless for a time and lived in a tent one winter. She accused her mother’s husband of sexual abuse, and court records obtained by news outlets show Acton’s stepfather was arrested and charged with raping her when she was 12, before he fled the state and later died.

Arthur disputed Acton’s allegations against her husband in a interview with a conservative website in 2020, but said she stood by her husband. She and Acton have separately said they have not spoken since a last encounter in court over Arthur’s husband’s charges.

Ramaswamy’s ad was met with a wave of condemnation from Democrats and some Republicans almost as soon as it began circulating on the internet. The Ohio governor’s race is very tight, according to MS NOW polling. On Friday, the Cook Political Report moved the race from “toss up” to “lean Democrat,” pointing to the ad negative’s consequences of “perhaps creating some collateral damage.”

But Ramaswamy has stood by the video, saying it “had nothing to do with childhood abuse.” President Donald Trump also backed the Republican candidate and accused the media of engaging in a “well-coordinated attack” to get the ad taken down.

In her remarks Saturday, Acton said her difficult childhood experiences shaped who she is today.

“I know that I am not the only one in this room who saw a thing or two in their childhood, but our stories, Ohio’s stories, is one of resilience, of grit, of grace, and, yes, of hope,” she said.

“Hope is a very powerful thing. It’s what got me through living in a cold, dark basement when I wasn’t sure where my next meal was coming from,” Acton continued. “Hope is what got me through sexual abuse, living through cold nights, where all I could think about was how to keep my brother safe and warm.”

She called Ramaswamy “out of touch” and “a danger to my state.”

“Apparently, there is no low to which you won’t stoop,” she said. “But look, I am a scrappy kid from Youngstown. Scrappy kids from Youngstown, we never back down from a fight.”

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Comedian Bill Maher had a string of harsh words Friday for critics who may have taken issue with his second dinner with President Donald Trump at the White House last week.

During his opening monologue on HBO’s "Real Time," Maher hit back against criticism of his latest dinner with Trump — in which sports commentator Stephen A. Smith and musician Kid Rock also attended.

"Yeah, I did it again, b----es," Maher said, referring to the Oct. 15 dinner, which followed his first dinner with Trump in April 2025.

He then doubled down on his decision to attend, adding, "You know what? F--- you. I like these dinners."

BILL MAHER CLAIMS DONALD TRUMP FELT 'BETRAYED' BY HIM WITH 'SILLY' FEUD AFTER CORDIAL 2025 DINNER

Maher's confirmation that he attended a second White House dinner comes after Trump told reporters last week that he enjoyed his time eating alongside the three celebrities.

"The dinner last night with Kid Rock and Stephen A. [Smith] and Bill Maher was great," Trump said. "I think they had a good time."

The president added that Maher "likes me a lot more than people understand."

"We talked about everything. It lasted a long time," Trump added.

TRUMP SPILLS DETAILS ABOUT DINNER WITH BILL MAHER, STEPHEN A SMITH AND KID ROCK AT THE WHITE HOUSE

In the days leading up to the meal, Maher said he would be dining with the president.

"I'm having dinner with him again next week," Maher told Hollywood agent and executive Ari Emanuel during a conversation on Maher's "Club Random" podcast earlier this month.

"After the first dinner, I went back to doing what I do ... But then, like, he just, out of the blue, let's have dinner again. And I was like, great. And he was really nice," Maher said. 

"Like, I promise I won't say bad things about you like I did the last time.' And I texted back, and I said, 'You know what, you're the president of the United States. Say whatever the f--- you want. I'm just glad we're talking.' It's like being called a 'hockey puck' by Don Rickles. It's just what he does. It's how he talks."

Maher previously made headlines in April 2025 after dining at the White House with Trump, Kid Rock and UFC CEO Dana White. He later told his audience he may have misjudged the president’s demeanor, saying Trump was "more self-aware" in private.

"You can hate me for it, but I’m not a liar. Trump was gracious and measured," Maher said in 2025. "And why isn’t that in other settings? I don’t know, and I can’t answer, and it’s not my place to answer. I’m just telling you what I saw, and I wasn’t high."

BILL MAHER REVEALS HE'S HAVING DINNER WITH TRUMP AGAIN, SAYS HE WAS 'REALLY NICE' BY TEXT

However, Maher has continued to criticize the president. In June, he mocked Trump’s Iran deal, saying the president went from demanding "unconditional surrender" to settling for a memorandum of understanding (MOU) while the White House touted the framework as a foreign policy win.

"We got everything we wanted except for everything we asked for," Maher said.

Jason Mudd, CEO of Axia Public Relations, told Fox News Digital that he thought Maher’s acknowledgment of his second dinner with Trump was likely the result of a preconceived plan to double-down on his attendance. 

"Maher walked in with a plan. His Friday monologue showed it. I said last week that each event guest needs a prepared message in anticipation of public criticism," Mudd said.

Mudd said Maher's willingness to address criticism directly while appearing genuine could help him retain support from fans who object to his relationship with Trump.

"If Bill Maher were my client, I'd advise him to keep sounding like himself. A host who sounds like a surrogate loses credibility," he said. "Maher sounded like Maher, so that risk stays low. Repetition is the next risk, because each new dinner invites the same questions."

"Comedians win by joking first, not by clarifying," Mudd added. "Naming the backlash before his critics do takes much of their power away."

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Fox News’ Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.

Stephen A. Smith doubled down on defending his meeting with President Donald Trump during an episode of his "Straight Shooter" show on Thursday, challenging his critics by asking, "What the f--- are you doing?"

Smith said during the show he wanted to bring several issues to Trump's attention, but his top priority was to tell the president, "With the squashing of DEI initiatives, it's essentially had a different kind of effect. It's discouraged CEOs of corporations in the private sector to be philanthropic and charitable with their money and give to HBCUs because they're fearful it will be perceived as a DEI initiative being exercised by them."

"I needed the president to speak out against that, and he said he didn't think about that and that is something that he was going to tackle, not to mention the fact he followed up with a call to assure me that's exactly what he was going to tackle in a matter of days when he meets with these HBCU officials. Now I don't know what's going to happen, but I tried, as I always have and as I always will," Smith said.

Smith met with Trump, comedian Bill Maher and musician Kid Rock at the White House on Oct. 15.

JOY BEHAR WANTS TRUMP BACK ON ‘THE VIEW’ DESPITE SAYING HE’S ‘NOT LONG FOR THIS WORLD’

"All of these folks that are complaining about me showing up to the White House with Bill Maher, what the f--- are you doing? Have you done anything? Are you doing anything? I'm sorry for cussing. I don't mean to, apologizing to the executives at SiriusXM, but damn it. Sometimes we do stuff on the air that we do off the air. This is ridiculous. I mean, it's just, it's never enough," Smith argued.

Smith repeatedly criticized comedian D.L. Hughley during the show, after Hughley questioned Smith's meeting with Trump on the "Uncertain" podcast.

"Why is it that Trump feels so comfortable talking to you when he's shown an aversion to people that challenge him?" Hughley asked during the discussion, as he and his co-hosts criticized Smith for sitting down with the president. "If you challenge him, that's it. Why is it? It isn't that where Stephen A. Smith finds himself his positions, it is that why are people that have a disdain for us so comfortable around you?" 

"I think that it says something about you when the people who hate us like you," Hughley added. "Why is it the people that hate my heroes love you?"

Smith criticized Hughley over his comments, saying, "I'm sick and tired of people b----ing and moaning about what needs to be done in our community, but when somebody is actually trying to take steps to do something about it in our own small way, we selling out. We this, we that. What you doing? What you doing? It's a rhetorical question 'cause we know the answer ain't nothing but b----ing."

TRUMP ADMIN'S PUSH TO SCRAP DEI IN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TAKES LANDMARK STEP WITH NEW HIRING RULE

Smith also defended his Trump meeting during an appearance on "The View" on Wednesday. He told the co-hosts he would not apologize for it.

Co-host Sunny Hostin asked Smith, "He has this history of racial bias that is so clear. Did you think meeting with him, that you got anywhere?"

"I don't know. We'll find out, but he’s the president of the United States, and I’ll be damned if I’m not going to try," he said. "And the reality is I’m just speaking from a constitutional perspective in that regard."

He repeatedly argued that Trump would remain in office until 2028 and that people needed to deal with it.

"You’re going to have to deal with him," he continued. "And when it comes to getting things done, I’m all about exhausting every means and every measure to try to do what’s in the best interest of our community. I’m not apologizing for that to anybody."

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"Stephen A. Smith and Bill Maher, along with John Fetterman, are a dying breed of individuals who believe in the exchange of ideas and positions with those they all may disagree with, as exemplified by the recent dinner at the White House with President Trump and Kid Rock," Fox News contributor Joe Concha told Fox News Digital in a statement about Smith's remarks. "Unfortunately, the trend on the left is to shut down anyone through censorship or otherwise anything resembling debate."

I will join my fellow Gulf War veterans in Washington on Saturday for the dedication of the Desert Shield and Desert Storm Memorial. Our journey began Sunday, Aug. 5, 1990, three days after Saddam Hussein’s Iraq invaded Kuwait, when President George H.W. Bush stood on the White House lawn and declared, “This will not stand — this aggression against Kuwait.”

I was privileged to have been a battalion commander then and, soon after Bush’s speech, led roughly 700 soldiers from Germany to the Middle East. At the end of the ground campaign, my unit was astride the so-called Highway of Death that connects Kuwait City to Basra following the famous “left hook” into Iraq. This weekend, I am looking forward to seeing many of my men — some of whom I have not seen for more than 30 years — but I fear my pride in my soldiers’ bravery and accomplishments will be tempered by what I believe the nation has lost since that conflict.

We deployed to liberate a sovereign nation from a totalitarian government. Our approach was the same as our parents’ in World War II, when American soldiers freed Europe from fascist occupation.

I told my soldiers in 1990 that American interests as well as our values — democracy, freedom, justice and respect for international law — were the basis for our deployment. We deployed to defend and liberate a sovereign nation from aggression by a totalitarian Iraqi government. Our approach was the same as our parents’ in World War II, when American soldiers helped free Europe from fascist occupation.

But based on how President Donald Trump has approached Ukraine and its ongoing efforts to resist Russian aggression, it appears that the democratic values that have long guided our national security policy are no longer relevant, and the use of U.S. military power is now based solely on the cold calculation of economic gain. The United States no longer supports nations, even fledgling democracies, that are the victims of aggression, but aligns itself with totalitarian states.

Recent decisions by the Trump administration are not only contrary to American values but a watershed for the future of U.S. national security policy. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed in September that Russian President Vladimir Putin had been invited to attend December’s Group of 20 summit in Miami. The Trump administration has also proposed unfreezing Russian assets in Europe to encourage Moscow to participate in peace talks. European and Asian leaders were surprised, shocked, upset and deeply critical of these decisions, which effectively seek to normalize economic relations with Russia.

Trump said on Oct. 9 that he and Putin had talked on the phone and reached an agreement for Russia to supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel fuel to U.S. and global markets. This translates into $4 billion for the Russian war machine. The president said this deal would lower diesel prices — and he blamed Ukraine for the rise in fuel costs here — but it is brutally clear that Trump is simply trying to appeal to American voters in the final days before the midterm elections. Energy experts are nearly unanimous that this agreement will have a limited impact on the cost of fuel and that the overwhelming driver for skyrocketing fuel costs is the president’s war with Iran. The agreement has been condemned by U.S. allies as well as congressional leaders on both side of the aisle.

On Oct. 11, Trump announced a unilateral “energy ceasefire” on his social media platform. He said that the truce between Russia and Ukraine was “effective immediately” and that both parties had agreed to halt strikes on energy infrastructure. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy subsequently noted that Kyiv learned of the purported truce through media reports, and Russian forces continued striking Ukrainian power facilities immediately following Trump’s announcement.

The president subsequently declared that Russia “has been fine on Ukraine,” argued that Ukraine was largely responsible for the continuation of the war, accused Zelenskyy of ingratitude and called for him to be replaced.

The president subsequently declared that Russia “has been fine on Ukraine,” argued that Ukraine was largely responsible for the continuation of the war, accused Zelenskyy of ingratitude and called for him to be replaced. At the same time, his administration hasn’t explained the disruption of Ukraine’s use of SpaceX’s Starshield, which provides Kyiv with critical intelligence on both incoming Russian ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones as well as command and control. An increase in Ukrainian civilian casualties followed as Russia continued its relentless bombardment. The Wall Street Journal, citing U.S. officials, reported Thursday that the president had called SpaceX chief Elon Musk to have those restrictions lifted.

Trump has waived the imposition of new sanctions against the Russian government, oligarchs and companies as well as nations purchasing Russian energy consistent with the so-called Graham Act, named in memory of the South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham. The president argued that negotiations with Russia were ongoing, and he did not “want to do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table.” As Bush told the nation from the Oval Office on Aug. 8, 1990, “Appeasement does not work.” History bears him out.

It is true that the Bush administration was also pursuing economic interests in thwarting Saddam’s occupation of Kuwait. Secretary of State James Baker argued that allowing Iraq to control the crucial economic lifeline of the Persian Gulf would trigger a worldwide recession and subsequent American job losses. Yet the Bush administration didn’t seek to avoid war by pursuing an agreement with Saddam for American economic advantage, like Trump is doing with Putin.

Trump has shown a problematic lack of support for Ukraine since the outset of his second term, and he is likely frustrated by his failure to deliver on his campaign promise to end the war in 24 hours. The Trump administration is no longer treating Ukraine as a victim of aggression but as an obstacle to the president’s admiration for Putin and desire for closer economic cooperation with Russia. Trump seems to believe this would be an economic bonanza. American national security policy is now transactional and bereft of values.

Oddly, as of Friday morning, there had been no announcement about who would speak at the dedication of the Gulf War memorial on Saturday. I suspect the president and senior members of his administration are too busy campaigning. In some ways, I hope they are too busy, because I fear the president would attempt to turn a day set aside to honor Desert Storm veterans into a campaign rally. But if he shows up, it may do him some good. We’ll gather a short distance from memorials dedicated to World War II, Vietnam and Korea, and not far from the Lincoln Memorial. To stand in that space is to reflect on the values our nation holds dear.

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The Trump administration plans to lift 50% tariffs on certain Canadian goods critical to Maine’s agricultural industry less than two weeks before Election Day, while also imposing new duties on other imports.

The move, announced Friday, hands Republican Sen. Susan Collins a political boost as she fights to retain her seat in one of the nation’s most closely watched Senate races.

President Donald Trump signed a proclamation exempting certain Canadian products, including seaweed, packaging materials, plywood, refrigeration equipment and agricultural machinery, from the steep tariffs.

While the exemptions, set to take effect Oct. 30, ease some trade restrictions, the proclamation also imposes 50% tariffs on other Canadian imports, including certain cocoa powders, carpets and floor coverings.

Trump’s latest ease on tariffs marks another shift in his administration’s contentious trade relationship with Canada. The president has repeatedly imposed and modified tariffs on Canadian imports, prompting concerns among U.S. businesses and lawmakers about rising costs and disruptions to cross-border trade.

Tensions between Trump and the U.S.’ northern neighbor appeared to reach a boiling point earlier this year after Trump announced a round of tariffs of up to 50% on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods. In response, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney threatened to match those tariffs “dollar for dollar.” Days later, Trump signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario, which forms part of the U.S.-Canada border, “Lake America” in the U.S.

Collins, who has sought tariff relief for Maine businesses amid Trump’s escalating trade tensions with Canada, celebrated the exemptions Friday, saying she had repeatedly pressed senior administration officials to ease the financial burden on farmers and growers.

“I am pleased to have secured additional tariff exemptions [for] products crucial to Maine’s agricultural industries, including blueberry, potato, apple, and seaweed producers,” Collins wrote on X.

The senator said she had raised the issue in repeated conversations with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and other administration officials. She also pledged to continue seeking additional exemptions and a broader trade agreement with Canada, which she described as Maine’s “largest trading partner.”

The announcement comes as Collins faces a competitive re-election challenge from Democrat Troy Jackson in a race that could help determine control of the Senate.

Collins has sought to distance herself from some of Trump’s policies, particularly his tariffs on Canada, while emphasizing her ability to secure concessions from his administration for Maine residents.

The tariff relief gives Collins a tangible policy achievement to highlight in the final days before the Nov. 3 election, as voters remain concerned about rising costs and the economy.

The post Trump rolls back some Canadian tariffs with Maine Senate race on the line appeared first on MS NOW.

This is an adapted excerpt from the Oct. 22 episode of “The Briefing with Jen Psaki.”

This week, we learned about an incident that feels like a perfect metaphor for the moment we are in.

For decades, two globes used by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower during World War II had been carefully preserved in the custody of the U.S. Army. That is, until this year, when one of those globes ended up broken on the floor of the Defense Department — the bottom smashed down into its ornamental base, which punched a large hole directly through the continent of Antarctica.

So how did that priceless artifact end up broken? In the most predictable way possible, of course.

According to reporting from The Washington Post, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wanted Eisenhower’s globe for his office and ordered the artifact to be moved earlier this year, and the Army office in possession of the globe “had expected to consult with experts at the U.S. Army Center of Military History on how to ensure its safe transport and properly document its relocation to Hegseth’s office, according to two people familiar with the matter.” But at the time, “the history staffers were furloughed due to a partial government shutdown.”

When the experts could not be reached, according to the sources who spoke to the Post, Hegseth’s staff decided to move the globe themselves. An “apparent lack of patience appeared to be a factor,” according to a person familiar with the situation. Their impatience was especially unfortunate, given that the partial government shutdown ended the very same day the globe was clumsily damaged.

After the Post published the story, a Defense Department official provided the outlet with a brief, unattributed statement acknowledging the broken globe, writing that accidents “happen.” The statement said the globe was in the process of being repaired but did not say how much those repairs would cost or when they are expected to be completed.

For an insecure man baby, there is nothing worse than when the people taking back control from them are women.

The story is a perfect metaphor for what it feels like to live in this country right now: a country run by small, insecure, petulant little men with too much power — men who will break the world if they don’t get what they want, when they want it.

We see it every day among the impulsive man babies in President Donald Trump’s inner circle. And often the world they are wrecking isn’t just a replica.

For example, consider what is happening in Ukraine right now: For over a week, the Ukrainian army has been blindsided by the sudden slowdown of Starshield, a critical military-grade satellite system run by Elon Musk’s company SpaceX. Lives were at stake while the Ukrainian army could not operate its missile interceptor systems at full capacity, which meant more Russian missiles and drones were able to get through.

You would think when an ally like Ukraine raises the alarm about a life-threatening problem like that, leaders in the United States would immediately try to remedy the situation. But instead, we have spent the past week watching a game of “he said, he said,” as both Musk and the White House try to deflect blame for the fiasco. All the while, more Russian missiles and drones were getting through.

When members of Congress had the audacity to suggest they would investigate what happened, Musk lashed out like an angsty teenager whose parents took away his favorite video game. “Live by the sword, die by the sword,” he threatened in a statement posted to his social media platform, X. “Those who pick fights with me should understand that I will find out who is really pulling the strings and come for them, not just their puppets.”

For a full week, we have watched Trump and Musk deliver exactly what Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted, while they thumped their chests, pretending they are all-powerful but also not responsible for anything that has gone wrong.

It was only on Thursday, more than a week after Ukraine lost this critical service, that, as The Wall Street Journal first reported, Trump called Musk and told him to restore full access to Starshield.

This was all happening while Musk was hard at work trying to amass more power that he can wield recklessly. Musk-backed super PACs have now spent more than $400 million supporting Republicans in the midterm elections, according to the latest filings.

We also learned that he’s putting up $1 billion for a stake in a new megamedia company run by one of Trump’s allies. It’s a move I see as less about protecting the freedom of the press and more as an effort to exert control over the media.

There is clearly no amount of power Musk can obtain that will satisfy his own insecurity. To Musk, the world is one big, ornamental globe that he thinks he’s allowed to break.

For two years now, we have watched man babies like Hegseth, Trump and Musk act this way. Whenever their power is threatened, whenever someone dares defy them, they lash out. They hate losing control, and they hate it when someone takes power back from them. And for an insecure man baby, nothing is worse than when the people who are taking back control from them are women.

We saw that most recently on Thursday, when an angry Trump decided to jump headfirst into the controversy roiling the race for Ohio governor.

As you probably know by now, the Republican candidate in that race, Vivek Ramaswamy, has sparked national outrage for airing an ad featuring the estranged mother of his opponent, Amy Acton. The 60-second video shows Acton’s mother calling her a liar. However, it leaves out the important context that Acton was removed from her mother’s custody at age 12, when her stepfather was criminally charged with raping her (he fled the state before he could be put on trial).

The ad caused national outrage, and even Ohio’s sitting Republican governor called on Ramaswamy to take it off the air.

But when Trump was asked about his thoughts on the ad, he decided to go absolutely all-in on defending it and attacking a childhood rape victim. Speaking to reporters at the White House, the president said the press had “ganged up on a woman making a horrible statement about her daughter” and insisted Acton was “fair game.”

The truth is, Trump cannot stand the idea that he and his party have lost control of this moment. He cannot stand that most of the country has, understandably, taken the side of a woman who survived serious trauma at the hands of a man with power over her. And he cannot stand that a woman chose to take that power back.

Trump has not forgotten how a movement of women taking back power from their abusers overshadowed his first inauguration as president. He has not forgotten how a woman stood up to him in court and accused him of abusing her — and how a jury sided with that same woman against him.

There have been several moments over the last year when Trump seemed to be afraid. But nothing reveals his insecurity, nothing shows you the whites of his eyes, quite like these moments.

This moment can feel really dark at times, but here’s the good news: We are just over a week away from Election Day, when half the population will get a chance to show this group of insecure man babies exactly how they feel.

Allison Detzel contributed.

The post Trump’s man babies keep breaking what they can’t control appeared first on MS NOW.

One group is oddly overrepresented among those whom Donald Trump has trotted out during his recent rallies ahead of the midterms: dudes who used to take blows to the head for a living.

Yes, just like in 2024, Trump is leaning on aging boxers — including some with disturbing histories — in his late-stage voter mobilization push.

Convicted rapist Mike Tyson sang the president’s praises during a recent rally in upstate New York. In turn, Trump touted Tyson’s brutality during his prime, calling him a “very dangerous person.” Floyd Mayweather Jr., who served time for domestic violence, recently touted Trump at a rally in Arizona.

And Evander Holyfield appeared alongside Trump this week at a rally in South Carolina, where the president evoked Holyfield’s name to cheer on a supporter who punched a heckler in the crowd. The retired boxer made headlines in 2014 for making homophobic remarks, which certainly makes me wonder what he thinks about Trump’s lecherous observations about men’s bodies lately.

The racial component here is unavoidable. As his administration wages war on Black America in a host of ways reminiscent of the Jim Crow era, Trump is trotting out old Black boxers during rallies — events filled with bigoted diatribes — in a way that might suggest he’s not actually leading a movement fueled by blatant racism. It’s also easy to see how these kinds of men can be made into pawns in a conservative movement that is steeped in toxic masculinity and displays of bravado.

In reality, Trump’s return to office has done very little for men, substantively speaking. He has failed to make good on his vow to bring back supposedly manly jobs — and, in fact, women have accounted for almost all of the net job creation that has occurred since he returned to office.

It’s a topic MS NOW’s Chris Hayes discussed with journalist Adam Serwer during a recent episode of “Why Is This Happening?” And it seems like at least part of the reason why Trump’s support among men has shown signs of softness.

Given all of that, prizefighters of past and present have basically become shiny objects that can distract MAGA men from the president’s failings. I’ve written previously about Trump’s use of combat sports — both boxing and mixed martial arts — to give his movement an air of toughness that he seems to lack on his own. Journalists like Luke Thomas have excellently homed in on this trend in even greater depth.

And the question for voters is whether they think these alliances serve any purpose other than to stroke fragile male egos. If political expertise were measured in jabs taken to the head, endorsements from Tyson, Mayweather and Holyfield might mean something of value. But that obviously is not the case.

These endorsements seem to me, more than anything else, like favors called in for a wannabe strongman whose clout is waning among a core constituency. In other words: weakness masked as strength.

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