Today, Explained - Thirst trap politics

Episode Date: October 16, 2026

The internet has a crush on some of the candidates running for office this election season and it’s saying a lot about how Democrats and Republicans wield sexuality. This episode was produced by Danielle Hewitt with help from Ariana Aspuru, edited by Amina Al-Sadi, fact-checked by Gabriel Dunatov, engineered by David Tatasciore and Bridger Dunnagan, and hosted by Sean Rameswaram. Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Abdul El-Sayed at a town hall event on September 3, 2026 in Waterford, Michigan. Photo by Emily Elconin/Getty Images. Listen to Today, Explained ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. New Vox members get $20 off their membership right now. Transcript at vox.com/today-explained-podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Something is up on Al Gore's internet. Things are getting thirsty. I, you know, I'm very online and had started seeing on social media all of these very elaborate, completely organic edits of Senator John Ossoff of people who think he's really attractive. And I thought it said something really interesting about the intersection of political media and pop culture and how Democrats are, you know, trying to maneuver on social media and the internet. And I wanted to dive into it. They're setting photo and video compilations of Senator Ossoff to Sabrina Carpenter's tears.

Is it just me or is John Ossef like so fucking hot? America needs a hot president. John Ossoff's slutty Atticus Finch cosplay is my favorite. Thirst trap politics on Today Explained from Vox. Pretty wet. delivery with PC Express Pass. Shop online and get the same low No Frills prices delivered.

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point in tightening your belt if it's just going to break when you do. Get the good stuff in store at Marshalls today. Hey, John, a lot of people saying that you've got BDE. You know BDE? A lot of people being saying, you walk with confidence. You carry us up free.

Only today explained. If you'd ask me that. Right. You're doing okay? Grace Panetta is a politics reporter at the 19th. We asked her who's posting the Democrat Thirst Edits. They're just coming from regular online creators. It's important to note at the outset that these are not paid partnerships.

The campaign is not paying these influencers to make edits about how they think they're candidates really attractive. But that's partly why I wanted to dig into it was because it's organic. These are just online creators wanting to draw visibility and attention to a candidate they really like. And of course, John Assoff is currently running for re-election in these midterms, as we mentioned on this show before. So it would certainly benefit him to have these edits going out there. They're all very positive. They think he's super hot. Maybe I'll vote for that super hot guy. how do we know for sure that he isn't somehow behind the campaign? How do we know that they're not paying for it?

Well, I mean, I spoke to several creators who, you know, make these videos and said that they're, yeah, just doing it for the love of the game and just supporters. His campaign did not give me a quote or a statement for this story. So it's, you know, fair to assume that he's not directly involved and he doesn't repost these videos. But as people pointed out to me, you know, his campaign knows that they have. an attractive, compelling candidate. And they previously, you know, have been vaunted for their digital strategy this cycle

of putting out very high-quality live streams of his rallies. And as long as we don't give in to doubt or despair or division, our victories will be so decisive that no half-baked plot hatched in the White House will foil the will of the people. There's a lot of material for an enterprising TikToker who wants to make these edits or clips. They have a lot to work with. So, I mean, his campaign, as one person put it, is definitely playing into that, but not directly engaging. So it's sort of a fine line to walk. Is it just an Asoff thing, or is this going on with other candidates?

I do recall that, like, Abdul Al-Sayed hits the gym? Yes, famously so. Yes, he hits the gym. When it comes to the gym, like, we don't mess around. I went through, you know, just watch so many, so many videos for this story. I also came across a fair number of Gavin Newsom edits. People, yeah, there are people who, you know, think he gives sort of Patrick Bateman American Psycho vibe. Hey, pull! Isn't that a bad thing? That guy's a killer.

Mine is the killing. I hope. The murder. Yeah, just aesthetically. And, you know, as you mentioned, there are also official Democratic accounts, including the TikTok account for the DNC, the headquarters account, which was formerly Kamala HQ, who have been. posting edits of Asov and also Abdul-Said, who kind of leans into this Jimboro persona. I will say there's one Republican who's jacked. What's his name? Mark Wayne-Mullen? Yes. Everybody's like, we were looking forward to working with. I'm like, well, working out with is going to be Mark Wain-Mowman.

I don't know that we're going to agree on anything, but at least we're going out together. The headquarters account posted a side-by-side of Asof and Abdul-Moh-Mah with the caption, there are 69 days until Election Day. Nice. Yes, there are also, yeah, lots of edits of Mom. and also former President Barack Obama. We have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.

We are and always will be the United States of America. Obama nostalgia content goes hard on the internet. So you're also kind of seeing these more official side Democratic campaign accounts sort of also leaning into it and playing up their candidates. And having an attractive candidate is nothing. new. You mentioned Obama. JFK was famously dashing. What feels different about what you're seeing now on social media? I think this is really a culmination of a lot of different things happening right now in

politics and specifically within the Democratic Party, you know, coming after their loss in 2024, there was a lot of conversation about, you know, the gerontocracy, how we're governed by a lot of really old people for the most part in this century. And also about Democrats' digital strategy, you know, in the aftermath of 2024, one thing a lot of people in that digital space have been talking about is how Republicans and the Trump campaign really capitalized on, you know, getting that organic engagement on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, where a lot of Americans are now going to get their, at least some of their news. And also, you know, yeah, engaging with and encouraging the creation of this kind of organic content on platforms and from creators that are not

always expressly political or official side. As one Democrat I talked to put it, you know, she thinks it's a way for Democrats to sort of wing back the internet and to, yeah, really create a contrast with, you know, the Republicans. And she said to have fun on the internet because Republicans are having fun on the internet. And it appears to be working for them, or at least it was in 2024. Is there something about this being something on the left that makes it sort of tricky because the right famously cares less about political correctness and your feelings. That's like their entire brand over there. Facts don't care about your feelings. But like this is broadly speaking objectification, right? I mean, thank goodness it's only objectification of men. But is the left

basically saying it's okay to objectify men? I think this hits on, you know, a really, really interesting discussion. This is also a very fine line to lock. I talked to one creator who wrote fan fiction about a fictional millennial democratic senator from Georgia named John Gets You Off. Wow, subtle, subtle. Yes, very subtle. And I asked her about this. And, you know, she acknowledged. She said, you know, if you do it respectfully, and she says, you know, I try to be respectful.

Sorry. John Gets You Off was the respectful version? Yes. John, with an H. It's the H that really shows you that it's respectful. Yeah, it's really, yeah, the H. Yeah, it is a fine line between thirst and objectification. And there is also a gendered element to it that this is mostly men, these types of videos are being made about.

Now, granted, a lot of people make sort of hype edits or positive content about AOC because she's a very popular female politician on the left. But it's true that women candidates are held to higher standards in terms of how they present theirself and how their supporters portray them. And it is a very real dynamic that you could have all these videos about John Osso. and it's not seen as detracting away from his overall message or his seriousness as a politician. So it is sort of a real and kind of interesting dynamic. And it is definitely a fine line to walk. I mean, is there a drawback of focusing on looks? Does it make the Democratic Party or these candidates seem superficial or, you know, not that serious?

I think there's now, you know, at this point, we've, President Trump has been the defining figure in our politics for 10 years now. And he is famously very, very image-focused and image-obsessed. Some may not like the way he dresses. I don't. You heard that question with those beautiful ears of years? This is one hell of a physical specimen. I thought I was big until I met you, Joe, you know? We live in a very image-obsessed society. And I think there's kind of a bipartisan acknowledgement of that.

And looks matter to people in all kinds of ways. They do matter in politics. They do matter to voters. Whether, you know, you like that that's the case or not, it is, you know, the reality. And I think it's, you know, the way that a lot of people in the left see this is people want, you know, to look at attractive people.

People take attractive people more seriously and are more willing to listen to them. So we should play into that and play that up. And, you know, that's also been the case on the right. Like, you know, President Trump famously loves people out of... Central casting. He's central casting. Yes.

like central casting. Central, hey, you know what? And he's central casting. Look at that guy. Central casting. And these are central casting. If I'm doing a movie, I pick you. There's been also this whole kind of movement on the right about making conservatism sexy again,

especially at the beginning of the second Trump term. You had all these influencers talking about how the second Trump term was going to usher in this, you know, great age of hotness, which is, of course, very based on sort of stereotypical male-centered, Eurocentric beauty standards. But I think this is sort of the genies out of the bottle on this one in terms of the fact that our politics and society is very image-obsessed. And I think the left being locked out of power realizes they have to play on those terms and they kind of have fun doing it.

Okay, we're going to spend more time talking about how this looks on the right in the second half of the show. But before we do, let me just ask you, Is this working? Because you could look at it as like giving Kamala is brat, which famously did not work. I mean, it was fun. It got people excited. I guess in that sense it worked. But it didn't lead to a W for Kamala Harris. Is it working in any tangible way for Asaf, for Abdul al-Sayed, or anyone else? You know, I think a lot of the time in politics, the success of a message is really, you know, dependent on kind of the broader political situation. I think, you know, a part of the reason that the Kamalist brat thing didn't work is people were like, okay, that's great, but my gas is too expensive and prices are too high. And I'm not happy with how things have gone under the Biden administration. So I don't really care. I don't know that, you know, specific digital strategy makes or breaks a campaign or candidate, but it, you know, feeds into a bunch of larger factors. And something that a lot of people I spoke to said they liked about John Ossov is how he is incredibly serious in Senate hearings. He doesn't grandstand. He really, you know, holds Trump administration officials feet to the fire.

Mr. Secretary, you stated four months ago that Iran's military had been rendered, quote, combat ineffective for years to come. Has Iran's military been for the last four months combat ineffective? He's been very focused in his role in the Senate and on the campaign trail about calling out corruption. He's a very, very gifted speaker in order. We saw that obviously demonstrated when he, you know, made the quip about Trump traveling with Natalie that sparked an entire news cycle about Natalie Harp. He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless Flying Palace gifted by the Emir of Qatar.

So I think it, you know, a candidate's messaging strategy is, you know, only as good as the content and only as good as if it meets people where they are and actually speaks to a real need people have. And I think, yeah, people are really unhappy with the second Trump term and politicians being super old and out of touch. And it's kind of a perfect storm of factors that makes it work for him.

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I'm just a bad turn. Explain. All right, today, Explain is back. We've been talking about how they're trying to bring sexy back on the left. But Jennifer Wilson, who's a staff writer The New Yorker, just wrote for the New Yorker how the rights been at this for a minute.

So Jennifer, remind us what the right trying to bring sexy back looks like in case anyone missed it. When I was sort of growing up, you know, I went to high school during the first administration of George W. Bush. Choosing abstinence requires character,

self-restraint, and self-respect. You know, it was this era of, you know, purity culture. I'm going to tell you from my own personal life, abstinence works. Promise rings. You know, some people may not understand it, and that's fine. But it's something that we believe in. Conservative in every sense, you know, abstinence-only education.

Don't have sex, because you will get pregnant and die. And, you know, and the left was the party of birth control, of gay liberation. you know, it seemed pretty clear that the left was the sexy party. It caught me kind of off guard, I would say, a few years ago, this kind of day on social media. I think it was, you know, Sidney Sweeney had been on S&L and a low-cut dress. I feel like people only see me as the girl on TV who screams, cries, and has sex. Sometimes it's all three at the same time.

And for whatever reason, people started posting things that said, like, you know, wokeness is dead. For anyone under the age of 25, they've likely never seen it in their lifetime, as the giggling blonde with an amazing rack has been stamped out of existence, a creature shamed to the brink of extinction. You know, I think there was a conservative newspaper in Canada that said, you know, her double-de breasts are harbingers of doom. for the left.

And I just thought, you know, what are they talking about? I, you know, what do big breaths have to do with right-wing, you know, fiscal policy? And so I was, it's part of this kind of new rebranding of the Republican Party under Trump. It's kind of remaking itself in his image. And his image is, you know, I mean, this is someone who used to run. beauty pageants, you know, it's the Mar-a-Lago face. It's this kind of, you know, exaggerated kind of sexuality, you know, push-up bras are back, you know, that's just kind of part of this kind of trend of kind of ostentatious, almost garish kind of sex appeal that we're seeing on the right.

And how does it sort of manifest beyond, say, Sidney's Sweeney and her various commercials and various appearances and, I don't know, anatomy? Well, I think for instance, you're seeing there's this kind of new rebranding of marriage as this kind of playground for raunchy Christian sex on the right. So, you know, I found this website in my research called Christianfriendly sexpositions.com with your God. You should. You should. This is my work computers. Is this safe for work?

husband on top, wife on top. I thought these had different names. Exactly, right? But see, there you go. Rear entry. I've heard of it. But see, there you go. It's not guy on top. It's husband on top, right? That's the difference. Right, of course. You know what I will say for all the people who are scandalized right now is that they're stick figures? Yeah, they're very careful about how they represent this stuff. Like there's this underwear brand called Mentionables, which is a Mormon underwear or lingerie company. And they, specifically, specifically don't use models because, you know, they're like, this way your husband can go shopping for you without feeling guilty about looking at other women. There's this magazine that launched called EVEy that sort of pitches itself as the conservative Cosmo. The mission was to, quote, empower, educate and entertain young women with content that celebrates femininity, encourages virtue, and offers a more honest perspective than they get elsewhere. It came out with a whole issue on sex, the sex issue.

with a blowjob checklist and pelvic floor exercises. But it's all sort of, you know, sort of geared towards married couples and couples specifically who've waited until marriage to have sex. We're never going to encourage orgies or cheating on your spouse or whatever that women's magazines have talked about for decades. So we are counterculture in that way. So does that make it okay with the base? Because it's like this is geared towards married people?

I think that there are mixed feelings. Like, I think that there are still plenty of, you know, conservatives who are conservative, including around kind of dress and things like this. But I definitely think that if you look at EV Magazine, the co-founder, Brittany Hugo Boom, you know, said, like, for so long, the left was this kind of fun party. Like, this was the party where you could dress sexy and we were the party of restraint. And it wasn't fun. No one wants this. I mean, it's a lot about the, you know, where the party that, you know, you can say whatever

you want. You don't have to worry about offending people. We're the kind of the party that's not politically correct. We can have a good time while they're all, you know, scolding us and canceling us. And so I think that they see this as kind of part of that. And is it working its way into policy in any tangible way? One of the things I say in the piece is that it's important to know that no matter, matter how much they're sort of trying to convince the world that they're the party of sexy,

you know, you're still seeing, obviously, Roe v. Wade was struck down. You're seeing attempts to curb access to birth control. I would say it's still purity politics without purity culture. And I think that's, you know, it's been effective for them. You mentioned that the left sort of like used to be seen as the party that owned sexy and then something changed, what changed? How did they lose sexy? The way that I got into this story was I was, I really went in to write about Victoria's Secret because I was really taken aback by a series of interviews that the new CEO Hillary Super

did where she said things like, well, you know, well, first of all, the Victoria's Secret was bringing back their, their famous fashion show, which had been shown. shut down. She said things like, you know, in the past, we were too afraid to offend people. Decisions were made out of fear. We're still going to care about diversity, but we're not going to be, you know, so worried that we have to check every single box that, you know, so that we don't offend everyone who could possibly be offended. I mean, it was very, it felt like a major women's underwear brand kind of flirting with, you know, MAGA talking points. And I was, like, absolutely fascinated by that. So I sort of used kind of Victoria's Secret as this way into, okay,

how did people start to think that sexy and sexiness was something that would be more embraced under a Republican administration? You know, I think what I say in the piece is like, I certainly saw that there was a kind of, I think an inadvertent way that kind of like what women were wearing became part of this conversation again. You had like these articles, like the Hollywood Reporter, like did Me Too kill the pushup bra. You know, you had companies, corporate marketing campaigns, just started like, you know, becoming this very visible place where these conversations were happening. I mean, I think you see this with every social movement. Like, I think I, you know, I mean, there's this way that something like Black Lives Matter gets reduced to Juneteenth

napkins at Target. I'm crying at the inside. Okay, so as you mentioned, there's been this sort of perceived war on sex, but there's also sort of been this clearly intentional war for sex that, yes, the media is writing about, but also campaigns are engaged in. And you see on social media, what do you think it tells us about where we are are at the bad old intersection of sex and politics right now? I don't think it tells us a lot, but I think that's significant.

You know, I quote a friend in the piece who says, I think that everyone is just convinced their enemies are having bad sex. And I think that's true. You know, everyone just wants to feel like their party is the cool party. Like everyone wants to think, like, you know, that their party is the party that lets you, I mean, for so long, that was kind of the Democratic Party, was the party of freedom, of personal freedom, sexual freedoms. And it still is. If you look at specifically policy matters, but I think that there's just this anxiety, I think, in like, this social media age of having the wrong opinion about things that are, and I think sex, you know, in the wake of Me Too.

and if you look more recently at the, at the, what's going on at Cornell, I mean, people are really feeling like they don't want to, you know, be wrong on something like this that is such a massive social problem. And I think that there are some people who've just totally capitulated and have given up and do not want to do the hard work of thinking through the tensions that exist here. Jennifer wrote, have conservatives taken sexy, for the New Yorker, and Grace from before wrote, we have to talk about the John Asa Thirst edits for the 19th.

We did talk about them thanks to Danielle Hewitt and Amina Al-Sadi and Gabriel Dunatob and David Tadishore and Bridger Dunningin and also Ariana Spuru. Our executive producer at today explained is Miranda Kennedy. Her deputy is Jolie Myers. Then it's Abyshi Artsy and Denise Gara, Dustin DeSoto, Kelly Wessinger, Peter Balin-on-Rosen, Patrick Boyd, Miles Brian, Heidi-Mawaddy, and Noel King, who will be appearing at StoryFest in Brooklyn on Friday, November 20th. Breakmaster's cylinder will not be there, but I will be.

I'm Sean Ramos for him. Tickets are on sale now at StoryFest.org. Today, Explain is distributed by WIC. The show is a part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. That's Podcasts.com. And you can listen ad free by signing up to be a member at Vox.com slash members. Limited free grocery delivery with PC Express Pass. Shop online and get the same low No Frills prices delivered.

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