Journalist and author Kurt Andersen says Trump’s entertainment-style “circus” persona may no longer resonate with the public.
“This guy is entertaining,” Andersen told The Daily Beast Podcast host Joanna Coles, speaking about the 79-year-old president, noting that many young people voted for Trump because he is “unlike other politicians” and “shakes it up.”
Yet the Fantasyland author, who for years has examined the forces behind Trump’s rise to power in the United States, said the president’s main source of influence—the entertainment value of his unconventional political style, including unfiltered social media posts and controversial remarks—may be fading.
One example, Andersen said, of the president’s waning influence is his recent proposal for a $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” intended to compensate people who claim they were politically targeted. The plan was blocked on Friday and was not supported by many in his own party, who urged him to drop it.
Andersen notes that the fund represents a significant failure for the entertainment-oriented president, but argues that what may be more damaging to his reputation is his difficulty even with “inconsequential stuff,” such as the Great American State Fair, a festival scheduled to run on the National Mall between June 25 and July 10, which has been thrown into doubt after the president suggested replacing it with a MAGA rally.
After the majority of artists dropped out of the concert, even conservative commentator Megyn Kelly admitted the shrinking lineup was a “disaster.”
As a solution, on Saturday, the president took to Truth Social to “order” that he be the main act at his Freedom 250 celebration. In a post written in the third person, he described himself as “the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime, and he does so without a guitar.”
However, it appears that some MAGA insiders still have no idea what is happening, as Interior Secretary Doug Burgum admitted on State of the Union on Sunday that he does not know whether the concert will be canceled and replaced by a rally headlined by the president.
“It feeds the correct view that I think is spreading among more and more and more people that, wow, he’s kind of incompetent, isn’t he?” Anderesen said.
Polls have shown Trump losing support largely over the economy, made worse by the war with Iran, which appears not to be coming to a close despite the president’s repeated promises. A May Politico survey found that 53 percent of Americans say the cost of living is the worst they can remember, up from 46 percent recorded in November.
“I think that’s what makes people anxious,” Coles told Andersen, mentioning rising prices, to which Andersen replied: “Correct.”
“Bread and circuses,” the author told Coles, explaining that leaders have been putting on a “circus” long before Trump came into power, but that this is only “fine if you’ve got the bread.”
“Just the circus alone, and giant ballrooms for rich people, and giant tax benefits for rich people, and giant crypto scams for rich people. While I can’t afford meat at the grocery store, that doesn’t go down so well,” Andersen added.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
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