Political Women With Much Older Partners

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Dating trends may come and go, but the scrutiny surrounding age-gap relationships is here to stay, for better or for worse. In a March 2022 chat with the BBC, Grace Lordan, an associate professor of behavioral science at the London School of Economics, explained why May-December romances are generally met with raised eyebrows and snide comments. "Us humans are judgmental, and if what our neighbor is doing is misaligned with what we expect, we put a spotlight on it," Lordan explained. On paper, it seems like times have changed. 

After all, age-gap relationships were no biggie to a majority of daters in 2024. However, the labels bestowed on women who choose to get into relationships with older men have remained more or less the same through the years. They have been deemed vapid "gold diggers" who only care about the financial security that an older partner brings. People have also been quick to diagnose them as having "daddy issues" while knowing little to nothing about them. Sadly, Lordan believed that it was nearly impossible to get people in Western societies to shed the deeply ingrained idea of "what a 'good' relationship looks like."

Meanwhile, in a May 2024 interview with Cosmopolitan, Dr. Daria J. Kuss, an associate professor of psychology, explained that the potential imbalances of power in age gap relationships contributed to their taboo status. She asserted that a younger partner may become overly financially reliant on their partner or susceptible to coercion. And since these imbalances are naturally more pronounced among women in politics with older partners, they tend to bear the brunt of the judgement.

When 52-year-old Donald Trump was at a New York Fashion Week party in 1998, he laid eyes on 28-year-old Melania Trump. In a January 2016 interview with Harper's Bazaar, the first lady revealed that her future husband didn't hesitate to ask for her number, even though he was on a date that night. Since the presence of another woman gave Melania pause, she wound up asking for his number instead. And the future president pulled out all the stops to impress her, handing out essentially all his personal phone numbers. Shortly afterward, they agreed to meet up at the ever-lively Moomba in New York. 

It seems that Melania was expecting her first date with a man who was 24 years her senior to go a bit differently, as she told Harper's Bazaar, "I was struck by his energy. He has an amazing sense of vitality." Moreover, in her 2024 memoir, "Melania," she insisted that their two-decade age gap didn't prevent sparks from flying instantly. "He projected a sense of authenticity," she wrote of her husband. "He had a zest for life that was infectious. He was successful and hardworking, but also so down to earth and real. I really liked that about him." 

Notably, an expert told us Melania and Donald's age gap isn't the biggest red flag in their marriage. According to matchmaker Susan Trombetti, a big age difference could cause friction in a relationship if the older partner wanted to slow down while the younger one wasn't on the same page. However, that major problem had been ruled out due to Donald's political ambitions.

During a February 2025 appearance on "The Megyn Kelly Show," Karoline Leavitt acknowledged that she had an "atypical" relationship with her husband, Nicholas Riccio, because he is 32 years her senior. Although the White House press secretary tried to shower her husband with compliments to make their relationship seem normal, she ended up making an awkward flub, saying, "He's the best dad I could ever ask for." If it weren't for that eyebrow-raising mistake, she would have successfully complimented her husband on being a wonderful father to their son, Niko.

Leavitt also candidly admitted that she was initially hesitant about getting into a relationship with someone who was over three decades older than her. Meanwhile, during a November 2025 appearance on "Pod Force One with Miranda Devine," Leavitt confessed that she had to have a "challenging conversation" with her parents to get them to approve of her relationship with a much older man. 

With time, though, the prominent Republican's parents warmed up to Riccio and realized he may be a great fit for her after all. And so, 28-year-old Leavitt tied the knot with 60-year-old Riccio in January 2025. Although Leavitt doesn't seem to be bothered by her generational gap with her hubby, the internet never lets her forget it. Every time she posts an Instagram snap chronicling their time together, her comment section is flooded with people snidely asking if Riccio is her grandfather or father. Notably, a love coach previously told us that the biggest red flag in Leavitt's marriage isn't her age difference with her partner.

Jackie Kennedy's whirlwind romance with John F. Kennedy began in 1952, when she was 23, and he was around 35. Only a year later, Jackie walked down the aisle with the future president, who was 12 years her senior. According to celebrity biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli's 2025 book "JFK: Public, Private, Secret," the beloved political couple's marriage was rooted in necessity rather than chemistry. He wrote that they only decided to tie the knot because the politician knew that he wouldn't have a successful presidential campaign without a wife, and Jackie fit the bill of a first lady perfectly. 

Meanwhile, Jackie's mother was eager to get her settled down by the time she was 24 and believed that John would make a fine match for her. According to Taraborrelli, they only fell in love for real just months before he was assassinated. Five years after JFK's tragic death, Jackie married Aristotle Onassis, who was 23 years older than her. Notably, in a chat with Time, Katherine Jellison professed that the former first lady's second marriage was a strategic move.

"She married Aristotle Onassis in part because he was so wealthy that she felt she wouldn't have to worry about money and the physical security of her children," the women's history professor from Ohio University stated. "There was a fondness and I think respect between Jackie and Aristotle Onassis. It was not a great love story." Although the first lady, who started a fashion movement with one of her looks, was technically married to Onassis when he passed away in 1975, they were reportedly as good as separated.

At some point in the early 1990s, Stuart Bloch and his wife decided to play cupid for their friends, Mitch McConnell and Elaine Chao, per The New York Times. According to Bloch, the two prominent Republicans didn't hit it off immediately. However, they apparently forged a strong connection in no time because they tied the knot in February 1993 when Chao was nearly 40 and McConnell was around 51. 

According to The Washington Post, one of the main reasons the couple picked February 6th for their big day was that Chao wanted to tie the knot before she turned 40 weeks later. It's safe to say that their 11-year age gap didn't prevent them from finding common ground — they were both overjoyed about the idea of getting married on Ronald Reagan's birthday, since they both admired him. Speaking to Independent Women for their August 2021 profile, the former Secretary of Labor confessed that she was afraid that her association with a powerful figure like McConnell could have damaging consequences for her career and lead people to write her off as a "groupie." 

However, she also couldn't help but gush about her partner, saying, "I liked him from the very beginning because Mitch had a reputation for integrity, and for being a very principled leader." She continued, "And he's just a really nice guy. He's also quiet. He's not a back-slapping, glad-handing politician." In a March 2025 interview with CNN, Chao nearly teared up as she admitted that she had subconsciously sacrificed having children with her husband in favor of her career.

During a 1999 deposition, Callista Gingrich testified that she had been romantically involved with Newt Gingrich, who was 23 years older than her, since November 1993. At the start of their affair, the former House Speaker was a 50-year-old married man, and Callista was a 27-year-old aide. In a January 2012 interview with the New Yorker, Callista's mother, Bernita Bisek, recalled how she reacted when her daughter broke the news of her scandalous affair. 

"There was an age difference, and I said, 'Maybe you should give it some further thought,'" Bisek stated. "She said, 'I've thought about it.' But then, you know, the age difference is exactly what her grandma and grandpa Bisek's was." Callista's mother also confessed that Newt's unfaithfulness to his first two wives stood out as a glaring red flag. What made their affair and age gap even more scandalous is the fact that Newt had vocally rallied against Bill Clinton after his affair with Monica Lewinsky, who was two decades his junior, came to light. 

It's also worth noting that Newt's second wife publicly claimed that he didn't just marry Callista in 2000 because he loved her. In a January 2012 interview with The Washington Post, Marianne Ginther claimed that he had told her that he wanted to leave her because she wasn't on board with an "open marriage," while Callista was. Some have also speculated that the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland colors and cuts her hair a certain way to make herself look older and subsequently make her age gap with her husband seem less significant.