Donald Trump, Shameful Political Fantasy

Does watching the worst act as a catharsis? The success of the televised debates featuring the Republican primary candidates seems to suggest just that.

Televised debates featuring the candidates for the U.S. Republican presidential nomination are now the most successful of all time in terms of audience viewing. Tuesday, the fifth show of this genre attracted 18 million spectators and 800,000 Internet viewers whose sole motivation was to see Donald Trump in the very process of reducing the political conversation to the lowest level ever reached in the country. At the end of August and at the beginning of September, the first two Republican debates had managed to attract, successively, 25 million and 24 million viewers.

Trump generates audiences in a formidable way; so much so that the price of a 30-second advertising spot on CNN during the debate increased by 40 times for a cost of $150,000. It is obvious that American television channels have a vested interest in allowing him to voice his opinions on air.

One might think it repugnant that the media, closely associated with the democratic process, should shamelessly profit financially from the absolute worthlessness of the presidential debates. One can especially observe that politics, nowadays, will only generate record audience interest provided that the utmost stupidity is on display.

So, of course, the display of moral turpitude has always fascinated mankind. And without a doubt, this fascination is heightened by the issues at stake. Specifically, the presidency of the United States, the most powerful nation in the world, could fall into the hands of the most obscene political creature. With such a plot, who would want to miss watching this nightmare on live television?

But, perhaps, watching the worst unfold might also have a cathartic effect. It is seeing Frank Underwood appear in an advertisement costing $150,000 that brought this idea into my head. Tuesday, Netflix, which produces the show “House of Cards,” announced the fourth season in the series by broadcasting a fake presidential campaign spot during the Republican debate. The show’s main character is a ruthless politician who becomes president of the United States unscrupulously using underhand and even criminal methods.

At a time when politics seem helpless to tackle the systemic complexity of economic crises, security threats, or climate change, to imagine this kind of power held by monstrous characters, without limits and without a superego, such as Trump or Underwood, might paradoxically hold a reassuring message. At the highest institutional level, could using unconventional thoughts or methods be effective? Such fantasies are paramount to asking for a better world at any cost, be it criminal, stupidity or populism. They are the manifestation of a deep collective despair. At this point, one can only hope that these fantasies never materialize in a real electoral process.