A Donald Trump presidency would be a nightmare-come true for the entire entertainment world. Does this seem like too bold of a statement? Maybe. Did Trump initially seem too bold of a presidential candidate for this overly sensitive country? Sure. The crazy thing, despite Hollywood’s incessant preventative efforts, is that it could totally happen.
First off, a “President Trump” does not mean any famous person who can garner enough support can suddenly become president. It doesn’t work that way. Donald Trump is legitimate, while Wiz Khalifa will never be commander-in-chief of this great nation. Sorry.
Is Kanye West really going to run for president one day? Was Will Smith really joking when he said he’d consider making a political run himself? You can speculate all you want, but the truth is that a President Trump would not suddenly open the magical, mahogany doors of the political world for celebrities. Unless Kanye West destroys ISIS, re-establishes peace in the Middle East and saves the environment in the next few years, look me in the eye and say Mr. West’s resume is even comparable to Donald Trump’s to be commander-in-chief. Donald Trump is an immensely successful, self-made business icon first and a celebrity second.
A President Trump would teach Hollywood and the media that they are not in control of this country, like they seem to think they are.
Hollywood is scared. The media is horrified. What started as a famous person’s outlandish run for the Oval Office is now a real possibility. Mainstream media keeps waiting for Trump’s campaign to go down in flames, but the poll numbers keep doing the opposite.
Americans from both sides of the political spectrum are flocking to Trump. Why? Because he’s a familiar face, a massive success and a true leader who doesn’t care for politics. The media can keep portraying him as a babbling fool and cantankerous catastrophe, and Hollywood can keep denying his success as being real, but it appears that he’s not going away. According to the most recent NBC News poll (for the last week of December 2015), Trump is currently bringing in an impressive 35-percent support. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is in second place with 18 percent.
In an interview with the Today Show, actor Will Smith — the Fresh Prince himself — was asked about Trump. “There ain’t gonna be no President Trump in 2020,” Smith responded. Keep telling yourself that, Mr. Smith. You never know.
It doesn’t take a genius to realize the mainstream media tends to lean left and the vast majority of our country’s entertainers think more liberally. Oprah campaigned with Obama, but did you see any A-Listers extolling the virtues of Mitt Romney? Obama was the hip youngster from Chicago, while — as author Ben Shapiro states in an interview with C-SPAN — “virtually every Republican looks like the assistant high school principal.” Image matters tremendously when you’re running for president, and up until Donald Trump, there hadn’t been many “cool and different” candidates on the Republican side of the aisle.
Celebrities in general like to think the rest of America shares their views on everything. If Donald Trump enters the Oval Office in 2017, we will all know that this is not the case. The most influential actors/actresses, musicians and personalities in our country may be the most publicized, vocal and universally heard people in our society, but they can’t be assumed as having the views of the majority. As a country, we are far more diverse than what a small class of wealthy artisans says we are.
Trump is by no means relatable for the average American. He’s a billionaire who probably hasn’t eaten a Big Mac or stepped foot in a Wal-Mart in his entire existence. If the Republican primary was tomorrow, I couldn’t tell you whom I’d vote for. But unlike most of the media and Facebook politicians, I believe Trump is at least worth an honest look. He’s genuine, assertive and just as sick and tired of aimless politics as most Americans, as poll numbers are showing. A president like Donald Trump would not only shake Hollywood and the mainstream media up quite a bit, but it would also give them a much-needed reality check.
Imagining a world without media bias may seem difficult, but if Donald Trump can make a legitimate White House run, I would say anything is possible.
Andrew Hall is a UF finance sophomore. His column appears on Thursdays.
