“‘Sleepy Joe,’ I don’t think that is a good look,” says Dr. Terrence Keaney, a Washington, DC-based dermatologist. He is, of course, referencing Donald Trump’s derogatory nickname for President Joe Biden — an epithet that happens to epitomize the main cosmetic concern of Keaney’s politician patients: looking less tired.
“As a politician, you want to be alert, awake, ready to fight for your constituents,” he says. To freshen up, DC’s finest often opt for non-surgical cosmetic procedures, a popular choice being Botox or similar neuromodulators.
Beauty and politics might appear at odds, but since Trump’s presidency, name-calling and pointed, appearance-related remarks seem to have become more acceptable in government. Trump has repeatedly attacked women in politics, from Nancy Pelosi to Nikki Haley, for their looks. In May, Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican Representative from Georgia, criticized Democratic Representative Jasmine Crockett, from Texas, for wearing fake eyelashes during a congressional meeting. Later, Crockett shot back with what seemed to be an allusion to, what she called, Greene’s “bleach blonde, bad built, butch body.”