If all of this is giving you 2016 vibes, it should. Hillary Clinton was constantly told she's icy (and worse) on the campaign trail, when there are countless reports of how warm and funny she was in more private, intimate settings. Because she was watched closer and judged harsher than any male candidate ever was, she protected herself by becoming closely guarded, which caused the press to call her aloof. (To a lesser extent, this is now being done to Elizabeth Warren , too.) In the meantime, there weren't many reports about how Donald Trump did little to no personal connecting with voters on the campaign trail. His preference for huge, bombastic rallies instead of one-on-one conversations was treated as a quirk, but not a flaw.