PaulsBunions said:
wasn't Thomas Jefferson calling John Adams a hermaphrodite in the newspapers in the 1788 election lol
The bitterness and rivalries seen in the partisan 1796 campaign got worse in the 1800 rematch between Adams and Jefferson. At one point in that race, Jefferson's supporter, notorious pamphleteer James Calendar, claimed that Adams was a hermaphrodite, while Adams' people said Jefferson would openly promote prostitution, incest, and adultery. That 1800 race ended in a tie fueled by deeply partisan tactics and more plotting by Adams, Hamilton, Jefferson, and Burr. Jefferson was chosen over Burr in the House runoff election after Hamilton decided to support the man he once railed against as Phocion.
https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/on-this-day-the-first-bitter-contested-presidential-election-takes-place
