Tom Forman, chief executive officer of Critical Content and creator of reality shows such as Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and Kid Nation, is more matter-of-fact in explaining how Trump’s reality-show training helped him appeal to voters.
“That’s a guy who clearly doesn’t need coaching,” he says. “He knows how to play the press and the people; he’s a showman. That’s exactly what makes an extraordinary reality television character . . . As we evaluate potential reality TV characters or hosts, [you want someone who] has the ability to make a scene more than it would have otherwise been—funnier or louder, or in the case of reality television, more dramatic. You drop them in and they bring the drama. I think if you look at Trump’s Twitter feed, he clearly understands that better than the mainstream media.”
To use reality-TV vernacular, Trump is certainly bringing the “drama” to his cabinet-selection process, which the president-elect has been essentially live-tweeting.
“Think of another president who would be sort of teasing us with glimpses of his thinking during the process,” Forman says. “Trump knows, I think, that people are fascinated and eager to know and ready for a surprise and a twist at the end. This is exactly how you’d cut the episode. You’d keep people guessing until the very end. There would be leads and misleads. The guy you think is getting eliminated from the island stays. The fan favorite is voted off. This is how we cut these shows. I don’t think he’s doing it intentionally. By the way, I just want it to be clear, I don’t think it’s nefarious in any way. I think the reason he was a big TV star is the reason that people are excited to see what he will do as president. But he just knows this stuff.”
Jenkins, meanwhile, is more skeptical of Trump using his reality-TV-tested methods in politics.
“I am not surprised that he is using the same techniques he used on his game show for his political career. They’re familiar and comfortable . . . I think the biggest horror is that we, as citizens, allow ourselves to be swayed by his techniques.”
Last week, The Washington Post broke the Trump transition down in terms of elements it shares with the reality-tv genre—including contestants (Trump has brazenly reviewed various contenders, including General Petraeus, on Twitter, as though they were competing in some man-on-the-street challenge rather than vying for secretary of state), candlelit dinners (see Trump and Mitt Romney’s romantically lit tete-a-tete, after which Trump noted, “There was actually good chemistry”), and alliance-making and breaking (look no further than Kellyanne Conway’s Twitter feed). As tempting as it is to keep comparing the transition to a reality show though, and even derive some sort of dark humor from it, Jenkins offers a chilling caution about this armchair analysis.
“I don't think it’s surprising that conflict is being stoked, created, and encouraged [within Trump’s staff]. I think the sad and horrifying reality from my perspective is that all of that conflict and all of those small skirmishes . . . that’s just a smoke screen. We, as citizens, are getting distracted. It’s an unfortunate technique, but it’s effective.”
And while Trump’s political acumen may be dubious, his mastery of conflict building is not, Forman says.
“The engine that powers reality television is conflict: who’s mad at who, who’s ahead of whom, who’s winning, who’s losing. And I think he just knows that in his DNA and re-frames the conversation in those terms,” Forman explains. “By the way, it is the engine that powers reality television because it’s intuitively satisfying for the viewers. You like there to be winners and losers and right and wrong. Most of these shows have good guys and bad guys and it’s really clear which category a particular person falls into. I think politically he’s applying that same methodology. Right? America’s going to win. It’s going to win really big. For a country raised on reality television, that’s a thing we understand.”
And Trump is also skilled at controlling the narratives around him, in the manner of a reality-television pro, Forman says.
“Stepping aside from Trump for a second, if you look at the Real Housewives cast or a Real World cast, the entire narrative of those shows is an argument over what happened and how it’s going to be perceived. Who broke up with who? Who slighted who? Who insulted who? Who’s angry at who? The person who can make their point of view the point of view wins, and becomes the star of that show. [Trump] is doing that on the largest scale imaginable.”
Jenkins makes a point to note, “What you need to hear is that, whether it’s a scripted project or a reality project, the people in front of the camera, they become characters. So, Donald Trump, the judge on his game show, that’s a character. It’s frightening for me to think that other citizens don’t realize that is a character.”
Asked how conscious Trump might be of this character he projects, Jenkins looks to his own reality-show experience for clues.
“If I were betting, I would place on the side that he is aware that he has [this separate character]. Of course, the character is based on himself, but he’s created a character that is much more than himself. My perception is that he’s aware and he’s running with it because he’s succeeding. It’s different to embellish your character.“
“Paris Hilton was a sweet girl, who happened to be an heiress and have a famous last name,” Jenkins offers as an example. “She became a character, an archetype—something much bigger than the reality of who she really is as a human being. That happened to work for her career. In my opinion, Trump is doing the same thing. He has created a character based on aspects of himself, but it’s a character. And citizens believe that character is capable, and it’s just frightening, because it’s a character.”
Though Jenkins had this behind-the-scenes intel, not even he could have predicted that the American people would vote a grandstanding reality-TV character into the presidency.
“I wish that I was that insightful and could have predicted that [voter] response,” Jenkins says. “I personally did have a pit in my stomach [during the election], because I think that we sometimes forget the enormous reach of celebrity and fame. And unfortunately, on his game show, he was presented or perceived as a competent, articulate business man.”
