The startling trend of MAGA Republicans getting ridiculous amounts of plastic surgery while simultaneously denying trans people access to gender affirming care is just the latest infuriating example of conservative hypocrisy.
From veneers and botox to face lifts and filler, many Republicans — especially those in Donald Trump's inner circle — have drastically altered their faces using cosmetic procedures and surgeries in a new trend that is turning them into bizarrely cartoonish versions of themselves. It's hard to take someone seriously when they look like a caricature of a human being because they went overboard on plastic surgery while at the same time loudly attempting to deny transgender people access to gender-affirming surgery.
Plastic surgeon Dr. Prem Tripathi tells PRIDE that many politicians who have to constantly be ready to be on camera don't go under the knife because of the long recovery periods but instead often opt for non-surgical procedures like Botox and filler that tend to look more cartoonish when overdone. "It's going to be more noticeable when a politician gets something done because it's going to be a less invasive procedure, and those tend to be a bit more noticeable to the naked eye," he explains.
And yet the same people who have gone ham on the injectables, plastic surgery, and makeup are the exact same people who try to deny trans people access to gender-affirming care and call drag queens "groomers," as though their choice to alter their appearance isn't an attempt to affirm their gender. Dr. Tripathi says that "it's very typical to have women or feminine presenting patients want a more feminine presentation for their nose," and men with smaller jaws request "chin implants or fillers to make things look more masculine."
Then Dr. Tripathi ends with something we already knew, "Whether or not somebody gets a particular procedure to look more masculine or feminine, that is a form of gender-affirming care," he says.
Matt Gaetz
When Matt Gaetz stepped onto the stage to speak at the Republican National Convention this past summer, he shocked most of America with his brand-new face. His skin looked taut, and his eyebrows were arched to the gods, causing people to guess he’d gotten more Botox than every Drag Race star combined before taking the stage. We see you gurl.
Even though Gaetz clearly took steps to affirm his gender through cosmetic enhancements, in 2019, he fought against the “Equality Act,” which would have given gay and transgender individuals protection against housing and employment discrimination, arguing that the bill would allow Donald Trump to call himself the “first female president.” After the presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump, he also backed up all of Trump’s ridiculous claims that children are getting gender-affirming surgeries in schools (gurl they can barely afford to give them books!). So let us get this straight: it’s ok for you to use a cosmetic surgeon to make yourself look more masculine but no one else should be allowed to? Got it.
Lara Trump
Lara Trump, co-chair of the Republican National Committee and daughter-in-law of Trump, has noticeably changed her face since she first entered the public eye years ago. Plastic surgeons have guessed that she’s had Botox, fillers, a nose job, and a facelift, which would be none of our business except that Lara Trump has hitched her wagon to the MAGA movement and her father-in-law who has said that he wants to outlaw gender-affirming care for minors and if elected plans to direct the FDA to investigate and likely halt trans health care, GLAAD reports. She also attributed high gas prices, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the Israel-Hamas conflict to President Joe Biden’s support for transgender rights because that makes sense. Maybe she didn’t just get filler in her face but her brain, too, because that’s an outlandish and hateful thing to say.
Kimberly Guilfoyle
Former Fox News host and prosecutor Kimberley Guilfoyle, who is engaged to Donald Trump Jr., has gone through a not-so-subtle physical transformation since she was first married to Democrat Gavin Newsom back in the early 2000s. Rumor has it she’s had extensive work done, including lip and cheek filler that has left her looking, well, different. Since big lips and high cheekbones are considered attractive feminine facial features, it’s almost like she got…what would you call that? Oh yeah, gender-affirming care. Republican hypocrisy knows no bounds.
Elon Musk
Billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk is no stranger to plastic surgery, even though he refuses to admit it, but the photos don’t lie! There has been speculation that he’s had a hair transplant, neck lift, filler, and Botox, all in a thinly veiled attempt to look more manly, and yet he also rails against gender-affirming care every chance he gets, despite having a (awesome) trans daughter. Musk constantly misgenders his daughter, said she was killed by the “woke mind virus,” and that he was tricked into agreeing to gender-affirming care for his daughter. Musk also moved his companies out of California to avoid trans-rights laws and called pronouns an “aesthetic nightmare.” Have you looked in the mirror lately? Pot meet kettle.
Laura Loomer
Far-right activist and conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer’s new face has been likened to Jigsaw from the Saw movies by hilarious social media denizens who think her cheek enhancements raced right past realism and ran smack dab into the uncanny valley. Loomer has been slowly crawling her way inside the Republican Party for years, and last month, she managed to worm her way into Trump’s campaign, even flying with him on his plane to the presidential debate. She’s constantly spouting racist, xenophobic, Islamophobic, and homophobic rhetoric, and last month called out Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham for allegedly being a closeted gay man. And despite having a Fatal Attraction-level obsession with Trump — who is hyper-focused on taking away the trans community’s access to healthcare — she looks like she’s gone under the knife for a little (or a lot!) gender-affirming care herself.
George Santos
Disgraced former congressman George Santos’ cheeks and lips have looked plumper lately, causing people to theorize that he’s gotten filler, Botox, and other cosmetic procedures despite supporting some of the biggest anti-trans politicians in the Republican Party.
While still in Congress, he introduced a bill to ban U.S. aid to countries that discriminate against or criminalize the LGBTQ+ community, and he recently defended JD Vance when photos surfaced of Trump’s running mate in drag, saying that “most dudes at some point in their lives have played around with costumes that are gender bender,” The Advocate reports. These seem like progressive stances until you remember that he still supports Trump and the rest of the Republican Party, who seem to spend every waking moment looking for new ways to hurt the LGBTQ+ community. Seems like as a gay man who has gotten cosmetic procedures that affirm his gender, Santos would want to distance himself from conservatives who hate trans people and call drag queens “groomers,” but that would mean he’s not a hypocrite, and he obviously is one.
Kristi Noem
Republican South Dakota Governor — and proud shooter of dogs — Kristi Noem's quest to give herself a MAGA makeover, including filming herself getting cosmetic dentist work done and rumored lip filler, eye lift, hair extensions, and fake eyelashes, have her conforming to MAGA beauty standards, which also guarantees she's an anti-trans nightmare. All of these feminizing enhancements feel like a giant middle finger to the trans community since Noem signed a bill into law back in 2023 that banned both surgical and non-surgical gender-affirming treatment for trans youth in her state. You can't count on much these days, but you set your watch to Republicans being hypocrites.
Is dunking of conservatives for getting plastic surgery petty? Yes. Does it matter that they have gotten work done? Of course not. We believe in bodily autonomy in this house, and they should be able to change their physical appearance however they want. It's the hypocrisy we can't stand — and that this Republican brand of gender-affirming care reinforces the patriarchy and dangerous adherence to gender roles instead of providing necessary healthcare like gender-affirming surgery for the trans community actually does. And that they use their platform to actively deny and demonize trans folks for accessing many of the same procedures they proudly flaunt. It's gross, and we will always call that out.