In the 2016 US presidential election, a large number of advertisements appeared on radio and television in the last weeks before the vote, saying that Hillary Clinton was too weak, too free, and morally jeopardized to become president.

Dr. Morris’ Self Paid Adverts

Dr. Dareld Morris is the owner of a modest medical clinic based in Florida. He then recorded and paid for his anti-Clinton adverts. Unlike others, he believes that voting for Democratic candidates is not just a wrong political choice, but also an effect of chemical imbalances thus recommends the best testosterone booster.

If you haven’t heard of the recording, here is an excerpt from the ad which started in a sales tone.

Testosterone linked to Clinton voters

“Hi, guys, Doc Morris here. Most are not aware of the negative effects low-T can have on your mental state, for instance, your ability to focus and think clearly… So, as a community service, I have this special offer: for any guys out there that are thinking of voting for Hillary, I want to offer you a free testosterone test. Just come in and register in my office in Fort Myers and let’s see if we can help.”

 

There were a few people who took Morris’s ad seriously; Even Morris pulled back a bit, sharing with local media that the advertisement was a “test”, though he added in: “I’m in fact going for Donald Trump.”

The American Conservatives

However, in the years that followed, it became an unusual sort of orthodoxy amid American conservatives that a liberal man who upholds feminism is merely due to possessing extraordinarily lower levels of testosterone and therefore must watch their health. Much like conspiracy conservatism, the idea started on discussion boards where numerous alt-right activists assemble. In these message boards, “low-T” is regarded as the ultimate insult together with other name-callings like “soy boy” and “beta”.

Yet it’s a thought that has spread rapidly into the political core. It was at the same that then-attorney general Jeff Sessions all of a sudden started to be more dynamic in seeking to prosecute leakers of the White House, Republican congressman Matt Gaetz proposed he would have begun “consuming those dietary supplements for low-T”.

Throughout the political campaign, Trump’s testosterone levels had also been unveiled on an episode of the Dr. Oz talk show. The viewers cheered when Oz affirmed that Trump had a good T-score of 441. Want to read more on this topic? Read the Guardians post on July 28th of this year.