The rise of the showman

Cameras filming an empty podium for an hour.

That could seem like the height of the absurd – especially as a presidential candidate was giving a speech on economic policy at the same time – but it did happen, during a presidential campaign, and it was not even that commented upon. Whereas I believe it is extremely meaningful.

Donald Trump is a showman, that’s not a scoop. The guy built his fame on reality TV, and is extremely good at making the show and grabbing headlines. That’s cool when you’re a celebrity, or even a candidate with a semi-serious campaign, but not once you’re president. Because politics is supposed to be much more than just that. I mean, Barack Obama is a great speaker and can generate enthusiasm in almost anybody with words, but there are other things behind the words – a vision, a plan, a program to build something and take his country somewhere. Whether you agree with him or not, he has substance.

Trump has the feelings, but it’s just a shell. The guy knows nothing of policy, substance or even politics, in the nobler sense of things. “Make American Great Again”: yeah, just words that sound great but have no true meaning, or rather can be given any kind of meaning. And that’s the danger: if it’s all just words, then it can mean anything to anyone, or speak to all without ever actually having to mean anything. Trump is the rise of the empty word, the alternative fact, the void. The empty podium.

And he owes a lot to the way we consume news, the way TV and the internet have shaped our relationship with information. It has to be instantaneous, grab our attention, and if possible not last too long – it always struck me as weird to have the time it will take to read written just below an article; shouldn’t the priority be content, rather than the number of minutes it will distract you? But that’s not the way it works anymore, and Trump was the perfect candidate for 24-hours news channels: constant action, outrageous statements, empty declaration that can mean anything and therefore justify and fill hours of coverage. More than ever the campaign had become a show, and he was there to entertain. So much so that his empty podium was seen as more important than an actual speech given by his opponent.

But that’s the limit of him too: he’s still stuck in the show, speaking at rallies and beginning the 2020 campaign (yes) not even 200 days into his first term. But that’s not how it works, you can’t spend your time campaigning, sometimes you’ve got to govern. And he is utterly incapable of doing it because he does not understand any of the subtleties of it. Politics is supposed to be about delicate balancing, knowing that each word, each comment, each gesture can and should mean something and must be weighed – instead he compliments dictators, commits a gaffe every time he speaks, offends allies, and randomly tweets at 3 am. He is completely desacralizing the role of President, and turning politics into a show. But politics is more than that: even if those who practice it don’t always rise up to the occasion, politics is the art of governing, of leading and structuring society to ensure that we can live all together as well as possible. In a nutshell, it matters.

And yet, Trump and his ilk are turning it into a mummer’s farce. And they are not the only one: many are tempted to follow this example, including in France where the announcement of the name of the Prime Minister was turned into a reality show complete with countdown and live commentary. That is dangerous, because when we don’t have substance anymore, we’re only left with noise, and no real way to know what the people we elect will do, want to do, or even if they know what the hell they are getting into.

And they should know, because even if they don’t always remember it they are the ones who decide how we live, and where we go. And the press is supposed to hold them accountable to what they promised us they would do, and help us elect those who will do the best job at helping us build the future. Politics is boring, and important, and deserves much better than empty showmanship.