At the intersection of Politics and Hollywood
There have always been connections between certain groups of famous people. Musicians want to be athletes. Athletes want to be actors. Actors want to be musicians. Politicians want to be all of them. While there exists a certain level of envy among actors, musicians, and athletes, it exists because one can’t (generally) do what the other does with any level of expertise.
Politicians, on the other hand, don’t care very much about being a pro athlete, or selling albums, or being nominated for an Oscar. Politicians are envious of the celebrities because of their influence. That’s it. Politicians want millions of people to adore them, pay money to see them in person, and listen to every single word they say.
That’s why so many politicians have sold their souls to the devil that is the world of celebrities.
We’ve all seen it, even as recently as the last election cycle. Oprah. Hulk Hogan. Beyonce. Kid Rock. Both parties invited, encouraged, and even paid (illegally) celebrities to provide endorsements for their Presidential hopefuls. Over the last few decades, this has become the norm.
There are, however, a few American politicians who have achieved celebrity status. President Kennedy. President Reagan. President Clinton. President Trump. When you think of those four, they all have or had an aura about them as people. It’s their persona more than their politics.
The flipside to are those politicians who THINK they are celebrities because they have surrounded themselves with celebrities. Secretary Clinton, President Obama, and Vice President Harris top that list. President Obama is the most blatant because he really DOES think he has that same swagger as Kennedy and Clinton and the rest. He didn’t. He never did. He was never cool, ever. He tried to be, but he knew he couldn’t pull it off. The basketball picks with ESPN, the feet on the desk or lying on the couch in the Oval Office, or ‘grooving’ to music at a concert were all failed attempts to build a “cool” persona.
When you can’t build it and it isn’t organic, you surround yourself with it, so hopefully you are cool by association. And to surround yourself with celebrities and athletes, you have to have something to offer, and it isn’t dinner at the White House or a sleepover in the Lincoln bedroom. As Secretary of State, and therefore responsible for the CIA, Hillary Clinton had something to offer. Obviously, as President, so did President Obama.
They had access and protection and that is what they traded for celebrity endorsement, association, and influence. Access to any number of illicit and illegal activities from Epstein Island, to child trafficking, to travel to Cuba. But more importantly, they offered protection from being prosecuted or even associated with those or any other illegal activities.
Does this sound familiar? It should because that is what the mafia does. It provides access and protection. That’s also what Hunter and the Biden crime family have been doing; access and protection. The mafia and the Bidens did it for money. The Obamas and Hillary Clinton did it for influence. That’s the difference.
Here’s the problem, though. When the Obamas and the Clintons are no longer in a position to provide protection, and the access they can give holds very little real value, and the celebrities are no longer influential the entire thing starts to fall apart. Which is where we are now.
Sitting at the intersection of Politics and Hollywood and the rules are changing.
There is no Hollywood influence to be traded. There is no legal protection to be offered. Access doesn’t exist. When the President IS a celebrity, he doesn’t need to court MORE celebrities…they court him, and it isn’t for access, and it isn’t for protection. Celebrities are courting President Trump for HIS influence and HIS persona and the draw HE brings…not the other way around.
What makes President Trump different from Kennedy, Clinton, and even Reagan is he ISN’T a politician. Those three were. They did enjoy the relationship between Hollywood and the beltway. They did enjoy the celebrities and the influence they brought. Hell, President Kennedy was having an affair with arguably the most famous woman on the planet, but he and the rest were politicians. Yes, even Reagan who STARTED as a celebrity but definitely ended as a politician.
But that is the difference between President Trump and all his predecessors. He IS the celebrity.
He is sitting directly in the middle of the intersection of Politics and Hollywood.