Trump Fat-Shamed a Supporter. It Went Just How You Would Imagine.

“Everything’s good. I love the guy.”

Preston Ehrler/Zuma

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.

President Donald Trump ridiculed a man’s weight at a Thursday night rally in Manchester, New Hampshire.

“That guy’s got a serious weight problem. Go home. Start exercising,” Trump said as protestors were being led out of the venue, according to the Associated Press. “Got a bigger problem than I do.”

But it turns out, the man Trump had thought was a protestor turned out to be a fan. After the rally, Frank Dawson identified himself as the subject of Trump’s taunts, and he’s surprisingly cool with the president—insults and all.

“Everything’s good. I love the guy,” Dawson told Fox News. “He’s the best thing that ever happened to this country.”

Trump rewarded his good-natured supporter with a phone call Friday morning in which he reportedly claimed he was actually berating someone else. Fat-shaming is clearly a valid line of attack for the president—as long as it’s directed at Democrats.

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And the essential ingredient that makes all this possible? Readers like you.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to devote the time and resources to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And the essential ingredient that makes all this possible? Readers like you.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to devote the time and resources to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate