Politics in America today are way too loud and much too small. The habits of serious leaders appear to have been discarded in favor of ever more exotic social media antics.
We’re witnessing the rise of a new class of political performance artists. They want to be at the center of national attention, creating chaos and conflict, shocking sensibilities, and unleashing dark passions. The hard work of legislation, of addressing Americans’ real needs, is of little interest. Instead, they compete to see who can say the most outrageous and inflammatory things. Their goal is more posts, more views, and more reactions—positive or negative, it doesn’t matter.
Podcaster Nick Fuentes is a case in point. He was emboldened by his recent interview with a fawning Tucker Carlson. So the 27-year-old leader of the “Groyper Army” of far-right young bigots announced last week he intends to make a splash in next year’s elections. He’s making a push for his movement to “infiltrate politics” further with the American First Foundation, an institution that provides, among other things, “resources for the midterm elections” so he can “guide people” on “who to vote for.”
Only idiotic candidates would accept support from an antisemitic white supremacist and Holocaust denier with a soft spot for Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. But Mr. Fuentes doesn’t really expect to be a headliner at campaign rallies. Fresh off his appearance on one of the nation’s most important podcasts, Mr. Fuentes sees a chance to normalize bigotry and hate. He can’t pass legislation but can generate headlines and draw attention to himself.
The problem isn’t confined to podcasters. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R., Ga.) specializes in oddball conspiracies. One of the first tinfoil-hat ideas that garnered national attention was her suggestion that satellites, possibly controlled by the Rothschilds, started California forest fires. After Jewish space lasers, it got worse.
Last Friday, when announcing her resignation from Congress, she lamented that five major bills she sponsored had never been considered. That’s because she spent her years in Congress focusing on her social media, not on the serious work of legislating. Bills don’t get passed merely because someone drops a draft in the hopper. It takes sustained hard labor. Ms. Greene never attempted that but succeeded in becoming a household name by saying outlandish things. She’s a performance artist, not a serious legislator.
The person most responsible, however, for accelerating the drive by political figures to focus on social media is the president. Given Donald Trump’s online domination, even generally sensible Democrats and Republicans have stopped being serious and started seeking more retweets and followers. Take the six Congressional Democrats, all veterans of the military or the CIA, who released a video last week encouraging active-duty service personnel to “refuse illegal orders” from Mr. Trump.
One problem: None of the six could name a single illegal order issued by Mr. Trump in the video. So embarrassing. But implying there had been “illegal orders” was enough to give the Video Six their moment to expand their social-media followings.
