New York Magazine cover featuring Donald Trump and Joe Biden in their underwear sparks controversy

The American weekly illustrated its latest issue with a photomontage of the two presidential candidates half-naked, during a sort of medical examination. The cover story provoked a wave of indignation online.

Joe Biden and Donald Trump side by side, in their underwear. This is the cover of the latest issue of the American weekly New York Magazinepublished on Wednesday, July 17 on his social networks. The American president and his predecessor appear to be undergoing a medical examination, standing on scales, but their faces have in fact been edited onto the bodies of other individuals. In the middle of a presidential campaign where age and health are hot topics, the cover has provoked strong reactions online.

Especially since this front page was published on the day that Americans learned that Joe Biden was forced to isolate himself in his home in Delaware, because he tested positive for Covid-19. “And now Joe Biden has Covid”stings the magazine by publishing its cover, supposed to alert on the age of the two candidates for the number one position in the country.

The outgoing president is 81 years old, his opponent is 78. But between the pages of this issue with its eye-catching cover, there is mainly talk of medicine, of advances in scientific research in terms of cancer… And of an investigation into the omerta surrounding Joe Biden’s age among the Democrats.

On social media, the cover is far from being a consensus. The magazine has been facing a flood of criticism since Wednesday, so much so that a press release had to be published to justify editorial choices. “We had already thought about how we were going to handle the fact that this issue was coming out in the middle of the presidential campaign, when the political debate was already focused on the health and age of candidates”defends Genevieve Smith, executive director of the magazine.

“It’s disgusting that you decided to make this your cover story. The media is really helping to make the United States a huge joke in the eyes of the world.”writes an Internet user on Instagram. “You posted this 17 hours ago and you still haven’t reconsidered and deleted the post?”protests another.

The idea of ​​showing the two candidates half-naked in a satirical manner is not very convincing. “What if they were two candidates? Would you have the courage to show them naked and make fun of them?” asks an Internet user. On the social network X, the image has been viewed nearly 125,000 times. It also provokes a lot of reactions, and few users see anything good in it. “This is perhaps the worst front page I have ever seen”reacts an Internet user.

THE New York Magazine ensures that this type of coverage “part of the magazine’s tradition of political satire”and hopes readers found it amusing. Neither campaign has yet responded to the headline or made any statements about it.