'A picture I never needed to see': Netizens flay magazine over cover featuring Trump, Biden in briefs

The health and age of politicians in the US is a huge issue in American politics at present, especially after the debate between US President Joe Biden and Donald Trump, which exposed Biden's failing health at the world stage. The debate also came in the backdrop of Americans wanting astute and intelligible politicians making decisions for their lives.

That, however, isn't the case as President Biden keeps coming in the news for making gaffes time and again (note: addressing Zelenskyy as Putin at the NATO Summit). His rival and 78-year-old Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, on the other hand, is appearing as one of the most agile politicians in the country.

The New York Magazine, however, went quite the risque route to rake this issue up at a time when temperatures are high in the States. 

In its latest issue, the magazine put photos of Trump and Biden in briefs standing on medical scales. The cover attracted the ire of social media users, with almost all of them saying it is inappropriate and amounts to objectification of both the presidential candidates. 

"A picture I never needed to see," one of the users said on Instagram. "It's not too late to delete this," another user said. "Enough already! This is inappropriate. Not even funny. It's in very poor taste. Stop the craziness," a third user noted. 

"Using a scale to indicate a measure of health is truly embarrassing for y'all," a fourth user said. 

Some others also said that it is not a surprise that the American media has reduced the country to a joke. "What a disgusting decision to make this a cover. We can now point to the media's contribution of making the US a joke to the world," a user asserted. 

"Why was this the approved cover? How bad were the other options?" a user asked. 

"This is a disgusting choice to make the cover of this. You should all be wildly ashamed. Wow," yet another user mentioned. Another angry user said, "I'm just embarrassed as an American about this cover... We can definitely do better!"

Commenting on the cover, New York Magazine's executive editor Genvieve Smith said that the health issue would come up in the middle of a presidential campaign when the debate put the health and age of the candidates steered the conversation around American politics.