From "Mar-a-Lago face" to uncanny AI art: MAGA loves ugly in submission to Trump
It is important to engage in respectful and constructive dialogue rather than intentionally trying to upset others. It is more productive to focus on finding common ground and understanding different perspectives. Making an effort to listen and empathize with others can lead to more meaningful conversations. It is crucial to treat others with kindness and respect, regardless of differing opinions. Building bridges and fostering understanding is key to creating a more united and inclusive society.

Left, right, center: Regardless of partisan identity, the common wisdom is that some qualities and aspirations unite us all. We all want to be healthy and prosperous. We all want to be loved. And, in theory, we all prefer beauty over ugliness.
That last proposition, however, has been seriously challenged in the era of Donald Trump. The reality TV host has always embraced an aesthetic that is as hideous as it is expensive, from gold-plated everything to his vile haircut to his ill-fitted suits. It's only grown worse in the decade since he first ran for president, as both the leader and followers compete to inject as much unsightliness as possible into the American field of vision.
The MAGA Aesthetic of Ugliness
Eye-bleeding internet memes have given way to uncanny AI-generated images of Trump or Elon Musk dressed as ubermensch. It's always with a grotesque shiny overdone quality, the visual equivalent of a burned steak covered in ketchup (a favorite Trump meal). MAGA men range from T-shirt guys to expensive suit dudes, but regardless of where they fall on the spectrum, it's vital to look bad.
T-shirt guys, now joined by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, favor a gold chain over a wrinkled shirt. The suit guys prefer the Jordan Peterson practice of clashing patterns and a poor fit. What holds it together is looking so terrible as to be, as Gareth Watkins described in the New Socialist, "a small act of cruelty" towards anyone who gazes upon the man.
The "Mar-a-Lago Face" Phenomenon
Then there is the "Mar-a-Lago face," created by a combination of aggressive plastic surgery, fake tan, and make-up spackled on so thick that it would crack — if the fillers hadn't already paralyzed their faces. The effect is to turn real human faces — mostly women, but some men — so fake-looking it's uncanny, as if an AI image generator had replaced a person with an exaggerated version of themselves.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is an especially painful-to-see example. She even recorded a video of herself getting extensive dental cosmetics, lest anyone mistake her blazing white teeth for the real thing.
The Ideology Behind the Ugliness
But let's not leave out former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, whose filler abuse helped get him the nod for Attorney General from Trump, before he became one of few nominees so annoying even Senate Republicans had to nix him.
It would be unwise to believe that it's just that all these people lack self-awareness, especially as many of them looked just fine before they started kissing up to Trump. After all, the look requires doing everything wrong, in a way so thorough that self-abasement seems a big part of the point.
The Anti-Sex Aesthetic
Despite the gendered exaggeration, the aesthetic impact is anti-sex. The explosion of ugly AI art on right-wing social media accounts is more of the same. As the hosts of "In Bed With The Right" explained on a recent podcast, MAGA loves to use AI to generate images of their heroes like Trump and Musk dressed as over-the-top masculine stereotypes: Roman gladiators, cowboys, oiled-up and armored-up comic book superheroes.
Sexuality is too human and vulnerable. Fascists want to project an image of invulnerability. It's telling that, when he was last on Joe Rogan's podcast, Musk and Rogan fantasized about replacing human sex partners with robots designed to look like cartoon characters.
The Ugliness as an Act of Contempt
Ultimately, this is why ugliness is so central to the MAGA aesthetic. So much of fascism is about shunning those human qualities traditionally thought of as good, but are viewed as getting in the way of power. Being deliberately ugly, for MAGA, is an act of contempt. It's polluting other people's field of vision just to make their day worse, in a petty display of dominance.