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SINCE WHEN DID POLITICIANS BECOME CELEBRITIES?

By Katharine McLean I distinctly remember the day Donald Trump announced that he was going to be running for president. I was sitting at my kitchen table with my mother as the highlights of his speech came on the news. That is when my mom rolled her eyes and says, “Well, this will be pretty entertaining.” She wasn’t wrong. I argue that the mediatized age that we live in has caused politicians to integrate celebrity tactics that can threaten the integrity of our politics, turning politicians and politics into a form of entertainment. A study conducted by Matthew Wood, Jack Corbett, and Matthew Flinders finds that past and current politicians are “gain(ing) popularity by adopting strategies from within the world of entertainment” (2016). Their research finds that there are two types of celebrity politicians based on what celebrity tactics are adopted based on three categories-- media platforms, marketing techniques and performative roles. When looking at Donald Trump thr...