Conservatives are praising what they see as Chinese President Xi Jinping’s masculinity following his meeting on Wednesday with California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).
Newsom, who has been in China this week in order to elicit cooperation on climate change, had a surprise meetup with Jinping while in the capital city of Beijing.
One image of the meeting in particular was quickly picked apart by Newsom’s opponents back home on social media. The image, they said, showed the masculinity of Jinping and the feeble nature of Newsom.
“Xi manspreading, taking up space, dominate,” one user wrote. “Newsom, legs crossed, hands in lap, ready to obey.”
Hoping to renew ties amid growing tensions between the U.S. and China, Newsom added that the pair discussed topics such as the fentanyl crisis and other “foundational and fundamental issues that will determine our collective faith in the future.”
Nevertheless, Newsom’s posture and perceived femininity became the biggest talk point among American conservatives.
“Girly Newsom with crossed legs meets manly Chinese President Xi Jinping,” another wrote.
Breaking down their case even further, some began to place detailed notes on the image describing exactly what Newsom was doing wrong and Jinping was doing right.
“Closed Legged (Womanly/Progressive-liberal-sissy)” was written by one user next to Newsom while “C*ck Facing The world (Manly/Conservative)” was used to describe the Chinese leader. Newsom was also labeled as a “Puss-C” for facing his “dominant counterpart.”
A more detailed version went one step further by seemingly outlining the importance of every body part on the pair.
Newsom’s crossed legs appeared to indicate “cock shame,” the user wrote, while Jinping’s open stance was seen as “cock confidence, FUPA dominance.” Jinping’s hairstyle was even labeled as a “giga chad side part.”
At least a handful of users on social media pushed back on what was seen as bizarre admiration among conservatives for the notorious foreign leader. Others pointed to pictures of former President Donald Trump sitting with crossed legs to highlight the alleged hypocrisy of the argument.
Either way, Newsom’s progressive politics have long made him a target for such remarks.
