Reality TV, Politics Theater, and the Oasis of Democracy: George Santos, a Republican Senator in Washington, DC
There are politicians that embody the disgusting aspects of Trumpism. Santos incarnates its venal and ridiculous side, the part rooted in reality TV and get-rich-quick schemes. Mark Chiusano said in his new book about the ex-congressman that if he had shown interest in politics before the election, we wouldn’t have a record of it. He found a new role model who brought celebrity gossip and celebrity status to civics, and that was Donald Trump.
In the hours leading up to the vote that would make or break his political career,Santos was exposed to a carnival of media attention that has followed him for years. He said that it was theater for the cameras and microphones, and that it was the playhouse of American bureaucracy. “It’s theater for the American people at the expense of the American people.”
In October, a report filed by the House Ethics Committee claimed that Santos had overstepped his authority as a member of Congress, accusing him on multiple counts of financial fraud and criminal activity. The ethics report found that Santos used campaign funds for adult entertainment sites and luxury shoes, among other misdeeds. True to form, Santos said the report was “littered in hyperbole.”
The politics of America is a big deal. In the arena of Washington, DC, lawmaking and lawbreaking is a fanatical kind of entertainment. Republicans have thrived on a diet of chaos since the rise of former president Donald Trump, turning the performance of democracy into primetime viewing. “The reality of it is, it’s all theater,” Representative George Santos of New York said on Thursday during a press conference on the steps of the US Capitol as he faced expulsion from Congress.