American History & Donald Trump: A History Professor Explores The 200-Year-Old Roots of the Trump Campaign by Rank Michael

Author:Rank, Michael [Rank, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Five Minute Books
Published: 2016-01-24T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Three

What Makes a Trump Candidate?

“Thank you. It's great to be here at 'Saturday Night Live' but – I'll be completely honest – it's even better for 'Saturday Night Live' that I'm here. Nobody's bigger than me. Nobody's better than me. I'm a ratings machine!”

That sounds like the opening monologue of Donald Trump's hosting gig on the November 8, 2015 edition of SNL. But it was actually the transcript of the last time he hosted in 2004. Then he was plugging his new television show “The Apprentice” and did a stunt-firing of the then-head of NBC Jeff Zucker. He showed up to far more fanfare in his 2015 outing. A pro-Hispanic group offered a $5,000 reward to anyone who heckled him during a live broadcast that he was a racist.

That didn't stop Trump from commanding huge ratings in both appearances. Nor did NBC Universal's decision to embargo Trump in early 2015 for offensive comments about Mexican immigrants in order to uphold the “respect and dignity for all people” that are “cornerstones of our values.” But it wasn't long before NBC put Trump on “Meet the Press” in August, giving the show its highest ratings of the year. As Mary Kate Cary notes in US News, goodbye cornerstone values. Hello ratings machine.

How do we describe the political rise of Donald Trump? How does an overweight businessman with an orange combover who embodies all the worst parts of New York obnoxiousness become a serious contender for the office of the President of the United States? How does he do so despite not having a serious platform or a serious campaign? Have the laws of political physics completely broken down?

There is actually a method to the madness. Trump gave us a clue to his campaign strategy in his 1987 book, “The Art of the Deal.”

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