This week, my appearance and weight have been mocked and shared tens of millions of times. I’ve been targeted by members of the Trump family, Fox News hosts, and even verified Russian propagandists — and yet, I remain focused.
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For years, Republicans have ranted about “identity politics” and accused Democrats of obsessing over culture wars. And yet this week, they took a podcast I recorded with a friend — where I discussed the real challenges young men in America are facing — and twisted it into a viral sideshow about my body. They’ve dredged up photos from my teenage years and flooded the internet with cruel jokes about my appearance, my sexuality, and my worth.
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This isn’t the first time my body has been made into a national spectacle. I want you to imagine, just for a moment, that your daughter, your sister, your niece — at 22 years old — became the target of public mockery by the First Family and major media outlets. Imagine what she would feel: shame, rage, humiliation. That kind of pain can break people. A decade ago, it might’ve broken me.
But I’m not who I was ten years ago. I’m stronger now — not because I haven’t been hurt, but because I’ve survived this before.
Now, I understand what’s really happening. Every time I tell the truth — every time I speak to the heart of an issue that cuts through their political theater — they try to change the subject to my body.
In 2022, it was because I called out their attacks on women’s healthcare. Now, it’s because I dared to say that Republicans have no real plan to help young men in this country. The moment I gain traction, the moment I connect with people they thought they owned, suddenly my body becomes the story.
It’s predictable. It’s pathetic. And it’s a distraction.
This entire week, Republicans with massive platforms have spent more time talking about my looks than responding to my point: young men in America deserve better. Better wages. Better healthcare. Better opportunities. If they spent half as much time addressing that as they do obsessing over me, maybe we wouldn’t be facing a full-blown mental health crisis among young men in this country.
I feel for those young men. I even feel for the ones taking cheap shots at me online — because I know what it’s like to feel lost and angry in a world that tells you you’re not enough.
I fight for them, too. I fight for all Americans — even the ones who mock me.
So while the right-wing mediasphere continues to make me a spectacle, I’ll keep doing the work. I’ll keep telling the truth. I’ll keep fighting to make this country better.
Because someone has to — and we know it won’t be them.
