Donald Trump won in November with a campaign built on "tough guy" posturing. Despite his inability to walk more than a few yards without calling for a golf cart, Trump supporters and his billionaire benefactors love to crow about how their leader is an icon of virility. Indeed, the masculinity braggadocio of the past year has been inescapable, from Trump's tedious "fight fight fight" slogan to Trump-loving Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg crowing that he wants more "masculine energy" at his company, where over 60% of employees are men.
And yet, at Trump's supposedly triumphant moment of being sworn into his second term Monday, he and his billionaire bro crew of Zuckerberg, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos revealed themselves to be rather soft. Protecting delicate skin and elaborate makeup took precedence over the long-standing tradition of holding the inauguration outside. Instead, the soft-handed MAGA men of Silicon Valley stuck to the warmth of the Capitol Rotunda.
