Television Created the Donald Trump We See Today, Critic Says
“He becomes, over the decades, rewarded for more aggressive and confrontational self presentation,” says James Poniewozik, TV critic for the New York Times.
Once upon a time, a real estate mogul in New York became a celebrity.
He made cameos in big budget movies, released books under his name, and got his own hit reality TV show. Then, he ran for President of the United States. And then… he won.
New York Times’ Chief Television Critic James Poniewozik says, with the election of Donald Trump in 2016, “television has conquered America.”
Poniewozik is the author of the book “Audience of One: Donald Trump, Television, and the Fracturing of America,” and University of Michigan graduate. He’ll be back in Michigan on Monday, October 21 for the Book and Author Society’s 95th Author Luncheon in Livonia.
He says Trump’s persona today was shaped through many years, and especially during his time on NBC’s “The Apprentice.”
“It’s artifice, which is what reality TV is,” says Poniewozik on Detroit Today with Stephen Henderson. “It’s not fiction in the sense of faking the moon landing and whatnot. But it is a construct.”
“He becomes, over the decades, rewarded for more aggressive and confrontational self presentation, which is how he evolved into the Trump we have today,” says Poniewozik.
