Trump mastered the medium. Can he govern through it?
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PresidentDonaldTrumpwas,intheory,arealestatedeveloper.Butinpractice,heisatelevisionstar.“TheDonald”generatedmostofhiswealththroughpublicity,licensing,media,and,laterinlife,realityTV.Likewise,herosetothepresidencybybypassingthetraditionalpartyapparatusandappealingtovotersdirectlythroughthetelevision.
HeisnowassemblinghisCabinetontheseprinciples.PeteHegseth,LindaMcMahon,JanetteNesheiwat,Dr.MehmetOz,andSeanDuffyallbecamefamousthroughtelevisionand,ifconfirmed,willrunentiregovernmentdepartments.Anothercohortofpicks—RFK,Jr.,TulsiGabbard,andVivekRamaswamy—hasbecomefamousthroughthepodcastscene,representingthetransitionfromtelevisiontothedigitalage.
Isthisafruitfulapproach?DoesitrepresentaviablestrategyfortheNewRight?AndcanPresidentTrumptranslatemasteryovertelevisiontomasteryoverthestate?
Allthatandmoreinthisweek’spodcast.
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Thefollowingtranscriptoftheepisodehasbeenlightlyeditedforclarity:
DonaldTrumphasapproachedhiscareeri
