We may not agree with Susan Dell's politics, but leave her appearance out of it

Even if you have no idea who Susan Dell is, I can guarantee that you have seen her face in the last 24 hours, plastered across social media and mostly accompanied by cruel comments.

The 62-year-old philanthropist is back in the spotlight after she joined her husband, Michael Dell, 61, the CEO of Dell Technologies, at the White House following their $6.25 billion contribution to the Trump Accounts initiative.

The Dells married in 1989, and Susan is an entrepreneur in her own right, launching three fashion labels, including Phi in 2003. She is also an athlete who has competed in marathons, triathlons and the Ironman World Championships.

They announced the donation last December to the US president’s tax-advantaged investment accounts for children, and met with Trump on Wednesday (7 October) to promote the program.

The tech billionaires have long been pals with Donald Trump and publicly supported the Republican Party, which has drawn scrutiny from critics over their blending of corporate tech influence, philanthropy, and partisan politics.

But regardless of what you think about Dell's support of Trump, it doesn’t give the internet an excuse to rip her appearance apart.

Dell has unfortunately become the latest woman to fall victim to cruel internet trolls (Bloomberg/Getty Images)

Internet trolls, mostly men, but some women too, are posting photos of Dell in the White House, with comparisons to what she looked like 20 years ago, in her younger years, paired with awful troll comments and invasive plastic surgery speculations.

They have ripped apart everything from her facial features to her weight, and her ‘Mar-a-Lago face,’ which is a term that’s being used to describe the way Republican women look, as per The Guardian.

Unfortunately, it’s an age-old tale that we’ve seen play out many times before with women from all political backgrounds and career paths - no one is safe from misogyny in 2026.

We aren’t allowed to age, or we’ll be constantly compared to a version of ourselves from decades ago, and told we’re ‘letting ourselves go,’ while men are ‘silver foxes’ who have ‘aged like fine wine’.

People who disagree with Susan Dell's politics are attacking her appearance (Annabelle Gordon/The Washington Post/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

If we do choose to get some work done, that’s not good enough either, as we’ll then be branded as ‘unrecognisable’ and reprimanded for looking ‘fake’.

Even if you’re a die-hard Democrat, ripping apart other women’s looks allows the vicious cycle to continue.

It also takes away from the actual political issues at hand. Why are the headlines all about a woman ageing rather than the millions of dollars that are flying around?

This criticism isn’t just reserved for Republicans. During her time as First Lady, Michelle Obama faced relentless scrutiny and racism regarding her physical appearance, fashion choices, and even her mannerisms.

Being a woman in politics often comes with unfair scrutiny of your appearance (KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/Getty Images)

In an episode of her IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson podcast in November 2025, she said: “It is the habit of the culture of the world to put women in their place by attacking their physical being.”

And speaking on the Call Her Daddy podcast earlier this year, she added: “As my popularity rose, I was being covered more, and so the press enters the scene, and there are now reports.

“So, the first thing after all this conversation and connection, the top of the article would be, ‘She was wearing.’ Not my education, not my professional career, but it started with appearance, but it got worse as we got better.

“Quickly, my shoes became the most important thing about me.”

It reminds me of the 2023 discourse around Madonna’s ‘unrecognisable face’. At the Grammy Awards, instead of focusing on her speech, she was inundated with comments accusing her of looking ‘different’ and having plastic surgery.

Madonna was forced to speak out after her 2023 Grammys speech became more about the way she looked than who was winning (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

She penned on Instagram afterwards: “Many people chose to only talk about close-up photos of me taken with a long-lens camera by a press photographer that would distort anyone’s face!!

“Once again, I am caught in the glare of ageism and misogyny that permeates the world we live in.

“A world that refuses to celebrate women past the age of 45 and feels the need to punish her if she continues to be strong-willed, hard-working, and adventurous.”

Hear, hear! Let’s hold women accountable for their actions, rather than appearances, please and thank you.