The 1980s pop culture phenomenon that explains the entire MAGA movement

Hulk Hogan at the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 18, 2024 (Maxim Elramsisy/ Shutterstock.com)

The perfect way to fully grasp President Donald Trump and his movement is through professional wrestling, a new book by David Shoemaker says.

The Bullwark sifted through Why Hulk Hogan Matters in which the writer uses a "literary theory" to explain wrestling.

"What I want to do today is take Shoemaker’s work one step further and extrapolate it out to politics," wrote Jonathan V. Last.

The long-time journalist and author used 1980's wrestler Hulk Hogan as the perfect comparison to Trump by using the term "kayfabe." It's the acting piece of professional wrestling, which uses fake rivalries and staged events to keep the franchise propped up.

Shoemaker calls it an example of "not a fraud but a folk art." Last thinks this is the perfect explanation for how politics fell victim to kayfabe.

"Kayfabe is, it turns out, the mode of the demagogue. The demagogue always pretends to speak for the imagined true people. The authentic Volk. This is true in all times and places: In Germany in the 1930s (the Völkisch movement). In Myanmar in the 1960s (Burmanization). In America today ('heritage Americans')," Last described.

Trump is no different, using kayfabe in his 2016 campaign with perceived beefs on both sides of the political aisle. Trump even brought pal and former wrestling promoter Vince McMahon into his campaign.

"Where American politicians had previously felt the need to pantomime earnestness and consistency, Trump was openly playacting. He would insult an opponent’s wife and call the man a liar one day, and then embrace him the next day after the man submitted," recalled Last. "And the audience accepted this because they accepted that Trump was working in kayfabe. Trump realized that voters could behave like wrestling fans. They could know that the show was scripted and still care."

Watching the ordeal, Last said, was like watching Marines fight Roman legionaries. Yes, the two are fighters, but they're playing by different rules. In Trump's case, politics wasn't about the business of governing and building a better society. It was a show and voters were the audience.

"[W]restling is about narrative authority—who gets to embody the story a culture wants to tell itself," Shoemaker explained in the book.

In another Shoemaker book Last cited, the author described the "historic" battle between Hogan and Andre the Giant. The descriptions of the men included outlandish height and weight for both men. If it sounds familiar, it's the same kind of embellishments that Trump uses to boast his height is 6'3" and weight is 238 pounds. Several athletes who have their height and weight measured by the team also claim 6'3" and standing beside Trump, they're remarkably taller.

"Trump has understood this imperative in ways that never occurred to another American politician. It’s why he lies about the size of his inauguration crowds. Why he exaggerates everything to world-historical scale. Why he never appears without being covered in makeup. Why he wears his hair the way he does. Why, when he announced his intention to run for president, he paid actors to show up and make it look like a crowd of supporters," Last explained.

Shoemaker's description of Hogan's embellishments could easily be swapped out with Trump's.

"Hogan didn’t just lie the way wrestlers lie—inside the ring, for the sake of a story. He liked the way people lie when they’ve spent so long playing a character that the character starts freelancing in real life. His lies weren’t usually malicious or strategic. They were expansive. Improvisational. They sprawled," the book said.

Last went on to compare some of the photos of Hogan and Trump from the start vs. more recently. The perfect example is looking at Trump's official photos. The first photo appears softer; Trump has a big smile, capturing his desperation to be loved. The second photo shows him staring down the lens; a determined frown and increased sharpness give the image a harshness.

These are just a few examples. Last goes further into the ways in which the audience is part of the scheme too. Without enablers those who live a fake existance in and out of "real life," there is no audience. It's why Last thinks that "Trumpism is forever," even once Trump disappears. Millions of Americans joined the MAGA world and dedicated their lives to embracing the clothing, attitudes, catch phrases and any other pieces of identity.

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