As, a former journalist and media critic, I’ll bust a gut if I don’t write about the fascinating and bloodless but significant cultural television phenomenon emerging from the coronavirus tragedy.
This post is not about whether President Trump is a good President or a bad one, it’s about the way two reality shows so different from one another are both airing every day and revealing so much about our politics, culture and maybe our future.
It’s not just a question of two different press conferences, it’s really about two different ways of looking at the world.
These two regular daily television conferences about the coronavirus – one starring the President, the other Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York – could help determine who is President in the Fall, and how we as a nation respond to this staggering crisis and the next ones to come.
Part of our President’s genius is that he sees himself – once and forever – as the star of his own long-running, TV centered reality show.
The White House lawn and press room is his daily stage and this idea of being a Tweeting TV Reality Show President blew away a score of gifted competitors. They all saw the Presidency quite differently.
Trump’s vision of being President has upended conventional politics, fusing them with the lessons of mass-market television. He turned out to be the wisest of them all. And many people love him very much.
Donald Trump is the master of the genre.
If you take a couple of hours to watch the best reality TV shows from Dr. Phil to The Real World to Million Dollar Listing and the Bachelor, even Trump’s own Apprentice, you will see his vision played out on the White House lawn or press room every day.
He’s turned the entire Washington political spectrum into actors and wannabees on his own show, the Apprentice, all over again.
Trump is always the story on his show, always on stage from his bluster to his hair to his fancy suits and ungracious responses. He can say or do whatever he wants, his outrageousness and offensiveness is the point, not a side effect.
I have no idea what he’s really like, but his TV persona is shocking and unwavering. His followers wanted a Disrupter, and that’s is what they got. He didn’t run to govern, he ran to destroy our conventional ideas about governing.
The President may or may not understand how a virus spreads, but he understands his television. He knows that on every successful reality show, arrogance, cruelty, boorishness, fighting, over-the-top polarizing, and paranoia, even bigotry as a political philosophy, are considered admirable, not offensive.
In this world, lying and exaggerating, scapegoating and bragging are not bad things, but good things.
You win by flaunting and taunting the conventions of the “elites” and the unknown.
As a former TV producer, I know good TV when I see it, and Trump is perhaps the best I have ever seen at keeping himself in front of the camera, no matter what he says or does while performing.
It is a fascinating fusion of popular culture and politics.
President Trump is a master of the form, he is the star of every room he’s ever in, and everyone must bow before him. In TV, I learned early that fiction soon becomes reality, and many people no longer care about the difference.
Suddenly a new challenge for the President, a spawn of the coronavirus hosted by a different personality, and this show is also red-hot, riveting, watched across the nation and suddenly very influential.
It is transformative, also shaping our society and our understanding of the coronavirus, and of ourselves.
In an indirect but obvious way, it is also challenging the ethos and popularity of President Trump, and his prospects for re-election.
Without ever hardly mentioning him, this new broadcast is creating a devastating portrait of a leader struggling painfully to lead a diverse nation – half of whom he has deliberately and contemptuously alienated – at a critical time.
A lethal Pandemic isn’t really the stuff of good reality TV. It’s too heavy, too real and too frightening. So far, President Trump doesn’t seem to have found another speed.
Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York seems to understand something that no other politician or political candidate up against President Trump has yet grasped. You can’t fight a Reality TV Presidency with an argument, you have to fight it with another reality show, a newer and better one.
And you have to fight it by showing a better way, not just promising it or arguing about it.
In essence, you undercut Trump by being the very opposite of him on television every single day when so many people are paying attention. You do not do this by attacking him or quarreling with him. It’s entertainment, stupid, fighting and offending is his specialty, it is most people’s weakness. You try to show what government, at its best, can do.
Governor Cuomo seems to have figured this out. If he’s loud you’re soft, if he is vicious, you are gentle, if he is lying or stretching the truth, you are being painfully honest, if he can’t really show empathy, you are empathizing all the time, even in tears at times.
Cuomo, a blood enemy of most Republican politicians, is not your usual progressive or wooly headed prophet of the left. He is notorious as a tough, take-no-prisoners governor. He has ticked off liberals and conservatives alike.
He talks to the President most days during the crisis, he praises Trump on every single broadcast. His dedication to helping the people in his stricken city seems to have taken precedence over anything else.
Accurately or not, no one in his growing audience ever gets the impression that he is thinking of himself or his future.
Governor Cuomo speaks directly, and in a working-class, every man, Queens accent. Trump is a ruthless billionaire, his father was a ruthless real estate developer and a cold and demanding parent.
Cuomo’s father was also a tough politician who said more than once that campaigning was poetry, governing was prose. His son was his campaign manager.
Mario Cuomo had a Teamster style of leadership and the heart of a lion. He often sounded like a Jesuit poet.
His son Andrew is showing those qualities in every press conference, and he is hitting most of them out of the park. By contrast, Trump seems to struggle with a format constrained by gravity and science.
Suddenly, facts really matter. Facts are not his thing.
His press conferences are long, confusing and awkward.
Andrew Cuomo never takes the bait. How can you be attacked or belittled by Trump’s many supporters when you never attack or criticize their leader? For the first time, the President seems tongue-tied. Can he win on governing? Not this time, it seems, not so far.
Cuomo has also done some fusion – politics, disaster, family, and television. Because of the virus and the havoc it’s wreaking in New York City and much of the rest of the country, he suddenly has a vast audience.
Until now, nobody could compete with President Trump when it came to television and media attention.
Cuomo is besting him, breaking through the Trump-wall. He is perhaps Trump’s worst nightmare, a potential opponent who understands government, sports, politics, and television. Someone who can take out his human side, polish it like precious silver, and show it off.
He has been waiting for this moment all of his political life. He is telling us – showing us – how the government is supposed to work when there is this much trouble.
President Trump brags about his ratings in one breath, offers deadly statistics in the next. Cuomo is self-effacing, almost shy. He seems to bleed for every sick and dying person.
In a reality television show, producers know that the more outrageous, over-the-top, divisive, or over-the-top the message, the more people will love it and come back for more.
Reality TV is a circus, not a policy. President Trump loves drama, he brags, lies, attacks enemies and reporters at will, he always gets the headlines; he always makes the news.
Cuomo understands that the media is just like the President – they also thrive on drama even as they bemoan it – they are not really his enemy but his very best friends. Each makes the other possible – and rich.
Cuomo also uses them in that way. But his press conferences are never an ugly slugfest. The dance is much quieter.
Cuomo’s daily press briefing about the virus, now broadcast live all over America and on several cable channels live is, in every way, the child of the Trump idea, yet at the same time the very opposite of it.
I don’t kid myself about the governor. Cuomo, like his father and his brother, is a political animal, with all of the instincts of a wolf hiding behind the garb of a noble priest.
He knows what he is doing.
Cuomo has figured out how to make Trump look bad and very different from him.
He does it by never criticizing the President directly, but undermining him constantly – all he has to do is be himself. Trump has to put on his Reality TV mask every time.
I picture Jeb Bush as pulling his hair out.
Whatever his motives and intentions – I can’t know – Cuomo is now the anti-Trump, the dream Democratic candidate.
It never pays to underestimate Donald Trump, but the smart political people are all whispering right now that Cuomo would eat Trump alive in a debate or an election. I imagine that the idea will gain some steam this Spring.
In his press conferences, Cuomo has created his own FDR-style Fireside Chat, calming a nervous and grateful country with compassion and understanding, stories from his personal life, and poetic exhortations to be calm and vigilant and patient.
I’m not sure what the message from Trump is for me, other than that he is doing a terrific job. That doesn’t make me feel better about being closeted in my house for the next few weeks. If there is another message, I am not getting it.
Cuomo surprises me, he is out of the box: He even rounded up nearly 7,000 therapists to counsel people who are freaking out in New York.
And for free.
Cuomo, like his father, understands from the ancient Greeks that the most beloved heroes show their vulnerability and their flaws. He is not afraid to choke up and cry.
Trump insists at every opportunity that he is the smartest person in every room, Cuomo is quick to say he knows little, he listens to the experts and deals in facts. Trump says he takes no responsibility for the way the coronavirus was handled by the federal government.
Cuomo takes full responsibility for telling people to shelter in place.
If you have to blame anyone, he says, blame me. I’m the guy at the top. His strength is contagious. So is his calm.
Rather than try to win over Trump’s devoted followers, Cuomo sidesteps their anger and sense of persecution. He is gathering his own tribe instead. The troll army has no role to play. Trump has no answer for that, the pundits say he watches every minute of Cuomo’s show every day and has even tried to copy his style.
My guess is that Trump will have to go after Cuomo at some point, it’s his nature.
He’ll give Cuomo a Middle School name and try to bait him into a mistake (remember Elizabeth Warren?) That could be the political battle of the century, Godzilla versus the Tyrannosaurus.
Cuomo, a purveyor of high-quality schmaltz, is a politician known for his arrogance and ruthlessness, but this new and warmer leadership style is a huge hit, all over the country.
The governor has also broadened the cast of his show, as good reality shows do.
There is his little brother Chris, a CNN anchor, who loves to banter and defer to his big brother; there are his adult daughters, who have come to live in the Governor’s Mansion to join in the corona battle alongside their pop.
There is even a now-famous mother, Matilda, the storied Italian mom going over to Chris’s house to show him how to make her fabulous pasta sauce. Loving and praising – and protecting – your mother on national TV is a very smart thing to do.
Almost daily, Andrew Cuomo evokes the ghost of his famous father. President Trump seems to do the same thing but in a different way.
The Cuomos won the Reality TV Sweepstakes this week when Brother Chris contracted the coronavirus himself and suffered greatly from, then began to heal, on national television, his “best friend” big brother calling constantly from the Governor’s Mansion in Albany to check in and make sure he’s all right.
Chris, who had a very long and rough night, told the nation that he dreamed his powerful brother was a ballerina dancing in his dream.
The media scarfed it up.
When they do talk, which is often on their respective broadcasts, the brothers kid each other with warmth and love, they paw sweetly at one another like two lion kittens. Brothers for our time.
The vast TV audience looking in on this drama swooned and teared up.
Even Reality shows don’t get more real than that. I took a brief look at President Trump in his dark suit with Brother Pence glowering standing loyally at his side later in the day, he got clobbered today.
And I thought, wow, Cuomo is a master himself. This new show could beat the competition silly.
It makes for wonderful TV, the two brothers who clearly care for one another and have been bantering with each other for years. Keep it rolling, keep it going, I could hear myself shouting in the CBS control room.
There were tears all over the country when Governor Cuomo nearly broke down on the air talking about his brother’s diagnosis.
The governor said he was worried about his little brother, who he loves dearly. His best friend.
Chris in return urged the governor to be careful traveling around the state, he is too important to lose.
I’m not trying to be cynical or skeptical here, but reporters are reporters, writers are writers, artists are artists, and politicians are politicians. I see what I see.
As a former TV producer, I would have cut off an arm for content like this.
No wonder President Trump seems rattled, reading off of his prepared text in a monotone while Cuomo orates spontaneously, quoting Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln.
Part of Trump’s great success is that he has convinced the very people who need a leader the most that he is their salvation.
And many people now think that Governor Cuomo is their salvation. This crisis will go on for a long time, everyone involved shall be revealed.
Call your mom, Cuomo said during a press conference last week, but don’t let her in your house now, he cautioned in one press conference. Love your mother from a distance. Stay home and cook your family a nice Sunday dinner, he suggested in another.
Cuomo projects the idea that he will do anything, anything – even pull the right levers in government – to go to bat for his citizens, especially the embattled elderly right now. He always talks about the little guy at the bottom of the pile and how to protect them.
We can’t let anybody die, he says, we can’t write anybody off. His eloquent plea to save every life, including the sick and the elderly, shined as one of the high points in the history of great leadership.
The wolves were already beginning to call for the blood of the vulnerable, save the economy first. Most of these people are going to die anyway.
I won’t give up on anybody, Cuomo promised and talked like he meant it. The President said more people died from the flu than the coronavirus that day. It wasn’t true.
As an older person at risk, I might be biased, but apart from that, it was a beautiful message Cuomo gave, leadership at its very best.
There is a lot at stake in these culture wars, as the Corona Reality TV Battle suggests.
What do we want a President to be? What do we want our country to be? What do we want our government to be? We will all have some answers in a few weeks.
I think President Trump ought to be grateful that Andrew Cuomo decided not to run for President this year.
(I was once a political writer also, and I can’t help notice that in every single broadcast, Cuomo says – often repeats – the statement that what is happening in New York City will soon be happening elsewhere, broadening his audience and giving anyone anywhere a good reason to see his broadcasts.
Just sayin’. He insists the crisis in New York is not local, but will soon be heading elsewhere. If anyone helps New York, he says, he will personally return the favor.)
This virus will re-shape our political system in one way or the other, and whatever the outcome, our popular culture may decide those important questions about our country.
But I wonder a bit when Cuomo says he isn’t interested in running. Politics is clearly in his blood. And I found out that the Democratic National Convention can nominate anyone they wish to nominate.
I really can’t tell if this is just another part of the show.
(Note, this is not a left-right political discussion, nor a hate or love President Trump discussion. It’s about the fascinating popular culture that America has created, and that has obsessed and shaped the politics of our country for years. I refuse to crap it up with hoary left-right propaganda.
Here, we think for ourselves. This blog is a search for truth, agree or disagree, but don’t bring mindless propaganda here. I won’t post it.)
You are so enthusiastic about dissecting the dynamic here in terms of good drama and television because you were once a TV producer. Being in NYS at the moment, I find your tone somewhat insensitive and a bit off. What about DeWine? Gretchen Whitmer? Jay Inslee? And other pleading governors who don’t have as much television presence? It may be true that Cuomo and Trump are geniuses when it comes to reality TV but big deal – if that is what it takes to be a leader or to win an election in this country, that is a sad commentary on our values.
Precisely, it’s what America has become thanks to a Media only concerned with ratings and driving America LEFT.
Sadly, we have a president who is obsessed with ratings?
When I label people, I no longer have to deal with them thoughtfully. I no longer have to feel overwhelmed by their complexity, the lives they live, the dreams they have. I know exactly where they are inside—or forever outside—my field of care, because they’ve been taken care of. The mystery of their existence has been solved and filed away before I’ve had a chance to be moved by them or even begun to catch a glimpse of who they might be. They’ve been neutralized. There’s hardly any action quite so undemanding, so utterly unimaginative, as the affixing of a label. It’s the costliest of mental shortcuts . . . This is why it often seems to me that calling someone liberal, conservative, fundamentalist, atheist leftist or extremist is to largely deal in curse words. It puts a person in what we take to be their place, but it only speaks in shorthand. When I go no further in my consideration of my fellow human, I betray my preference for caricature over perception, a shrug as opposed to a vision of the lived fact of somebody in a body. In the face of a perhaps beautifully complicated life, I’ve opted for oversimplification. —David Dark
Great quote
Someone doesn’t know their left hand from their right.
Who?
I am reading The Contender, a 2015 bio of Anrew Cuomo at present time — he is a hero, even with his flaws which all together are minor compared to our Hater-in-Chief Porn Star. He has a great future based on his actions these days of the Plague.
Does Cuomo have no history? I am Sanders supporter. People have short memories.
you sound like just another sheep following the herd of DEMS and a well versed speaker….we had one of those previously and what did that get the US but a lot of apologies to the world for us being Americans….
Kevin, go somewhere else with you left- right bullshit, this isn’t the place for it…we actually try to think here…
??
Jon… Kudos to you for an excellent article. I loved Cuomo’s news conferences, from the very first one I saw by chance. He got my attention and held it just as your article did. Thank you.
Maybe you should check into how many N-95 masks had in stock pile, he spent money on solar power instead of being prepared. Now he wants to send the National guard to hospitals that were prepared and take their stock piles. He has spent way to much money on foolish things like Text Stop Ahead. Please pay attention to more than one news cast.
Totally agree here. Cuomo is a wolf in sheep clothes!
Unfortunately, Cuomo has become very good at threatening those under him. Buffalo hospitals “in trouble” for not turning over ventilators? For someone who is “hoarding” those ventilators given him by the federal reserves, there is no guarantee we will ever see these ventilators again if we need them!
Tru dat
You got it. A sad commentary on our lack of values not to mention the complete absence of values and character of the man that holds the highest office in our country. Americans that buy into this type of showmanship are getting exactly what they asked for. America is not “great again.” America is on its knees and is about to go belly up. Trump is incapable of managing a crisis and he has shown this every day of this crises by ignoring experts, failing to marshall resources to get tests, get people tested and ramp up the supply chain for healthcare workers and first responders. Cuomo should not have to play reality TV host in order to get the people of New York the information and medical attention. Trump and the Federal government should be responsible for managing a national crisis. Cuomo is a state governor. He is a politician and a pragmatist . He is also a qualified and capable leader. I’d take his reality show over Trump’s self-serving lies any day.
We in nyc are @ ground zero.
The governor who has taken charge at ground zero is a master governor and politician who can devour his rivals After all this is his 3rd term
So ask yourself, if not Cuomo who can drive trump nuts show the swing voters who governs not pats themselves on the back insensitively daily?
It is indeed my gov and i love it
No better way tun for office than to say you are not running
Straight out of Trumps staircase playbook announcement
There is hope
Tough to swallow but the article his the nail on the head. Trump is a showman full stop. There is nothing Presidential about him or the circus he brings along. He in fact despises the job but loves the publicity. He sees it as something he has earned since he knows all sense all has all the money ideas, well you know his schpiel smartest man in the world…
Cuomo knows both how to govern and get his point across suing TV and the media , why not he is trying to save lives.
But good commentary none the less!
Not really. Cuomo speaks for NY but supports and mentions the efforts of other governors. He keeps saying “this is us now but you soon”. And this author mentions that … This is a really difficult time. People frame it in ways with which they are familiar. So, reality TV isn’t your ‘thing’ but I know many who see the information cycles as just that.
I hope the best for your community and mine.
Thanks, Jon
Interesting perspective from someone in ‘the biz’. Not surprising, though…Cuomo’s been dealing with disasters and disaster preparedness for the last 30 years. This really differentiates the stark realities between flim flam-hype and knowledgeable experience. How refreshing!
An excellent, thought provoking
perspective. Thank you.
Excellent piece. Thanks John for your words. I grew up in New York and now live in Maine. Cuomo has been inspiring folks up here too.
Great article! Thanks for the perspective and tone. Uplifting and full of timely insight.
Amen!
All I would add is that our Governor in California, Gavin Newsom is much thre same as Cumo and I think he should be getting equal credit. I’m not sure why he’d not. Except maybe because he doesn’t have a brother?
He sounds more like trump if he thinks he should be getting credit, makes him as big an ego manic as trump
Nobody said Newsom thinks he should be getting credit. The poster of this comment wonders why he isn’t. Read carefully.
Thanks.
Cosmo: I missed that comment completely. Please show where it says Como wants or demands credit for any of this?
Sherry, Do not think Newsom isn’t getting credit. He will certainly be heavily supported for a future presidential run, and I’m sure the leadership he has demonstrated right now will be a selling point-especially if the numbers in CA stay low. I am NOT a Newsom supporter, but even I have found him much more presidential than Trump. Newsom is doing a good job with this crisis and I never thought I’d say that about him…ever.
But, Cuomo is better at playing Trump’s reality-show-game, as this article points out.
However, based on Pence’s change in language, adding “meet the moment” several times like Newsom often says, pretty sure Trump/Pence have taken notice.
Thank you for writing this piece! You are brilliant. I look forward to reading more of your work.
The Coronavirus Pandemic is not helping reduce the political divide in our country!
Was hoping that with our Nation facing this dreadful pandemic we could put politics aside and band together to minimize the suffering and death of our fellow Americans without consideration of political persuasion but sadly that has not been the case.
But instead of pulling together, decisions on how to fight the coronavirus are still made with the same firmly entrenched blue state-red state/liberal vs conservative/party of “death” vs party of “life” mind set.
No one, right or left, is changing their thinking but instead each is blaming the other side and becoming even more set in their beliefs!
Unfortunately, if the Coronavirus pandemic can not unite our nation; nothing will!
My thoughts as well! ?
Yes, COVID is still dividing us. The take away from this piece, however, is that it doesn’t have to. True, both personalities are going at this as TV reality. Trump is using divisiveness, his personal intellect, the defiance of sciend, sleight of hand, exaggerations, deflection, and even lies to send his constantly varying message. Cuomo is using facts, experts, compassion, reason, cooperation, honesty and humor to send his.
Whether Jon is correct or not remains to be seen. What is evident is that Trump is becoming a little more focused. He is listening to his experts a little more. Of course, that’s only in the moment; he quickly reverses direction the next moment.
It will be an interesting year.
I sense Trump is straining to break away from his experts, casting them as out of touch elitists..that will be popular as so many Americans are frustrated and scared and just want this to be over..he is a brilliant reader of his follower’s moods..
Adam Shiff mentioned he will investigate the White House response to the virus. not surprising from him but what does it say about the continued abuse of the Media in attacking the President (vulgar, lacking character and moral virtue that he is)?
They are both loud New Yorkers, neither one is besting the other. One is leading the country, the other is trying to secure the needs of New Yorkers, but is more worried about causing panic, than doing the right thing. He should have closed the borders of the City and State, now is has spread to other areas like New Jersey. It was avoidable. Trump is doing a better job, as he stopped flights from China 6 days after the first case was discovered in the US, January 30th. This while Cuomo and Pelosi were telling New Yorkers and San Franciscans (respectively) to ‘enjoy themselves, as it was a scare tactic and a Trump virus’ February 25th. Both Bernie and Biden said they would not have stopped the flights. We have 8700 people coming in daily from China , and they would not have restricted the flights? As an Independent it is important to find the truth behind the BS.
Schiff, Nadler and Pelosi were so focused on an Impeachment they screwed up. Their hatred of Trump makes them against anything he is for. Protecting the Nation is his focus. Now they want to investigate that? They should be investigated for telling their constituents to ‘go out and enjoy themselves in groups’. Perhaps ignorance is bliss.
This is left-right bullshit, Joy, not here please…its the same old same old junk, makes me yawn…We all believe what we need to believe, and god help us..If you have something new and thoughtful to say please try again.. otherwise, get on over to Fox News Or CNN, you’l like it there..
You just “trumped'” Joy. Try pulling a “Cuomo” if you are that good at analyzing how Cuomo is different from trump. We need, we all need the empathic sensitivity that can hear and redirect the fears of others to a shared common purpose. Joy, wherever her faults, is part of our common life in times.
After 9/11, I found that I was extremely drawn to any news about the WTC. I watched the towers fall so many times I was told I had given myself ptsd. When this pandemic took over the news stations I put myself on a media diet of sorts. My therapist wanted me to decide in advance what my news sources would be. I chose the Governor as I trust him more. ( This was just me, you can chose whomever you want. I also follow some Facebook threads if I see something that looks wrong, I check it on snopes.com. Whatever news source you choose, stay informed as this is life and death.
Hear hear!
Great observations and writing Jon. Thank you for sharing it!
Amen. GOP talking points. Nothing more. No place here.
Sorry but you seem to be confused about time. Sschiff, Nadler, and Pelosi and the impeachment occurred before the pandemic. There is not connection. Don’t try to make one.
Susan, I have no idea what you are talking about, let alone how to respond..smells like another conspiracy theory to me, you won’t get anywhere with that here…
Susan was obviously responding to Joy. Just sayin’.
I believe Susan was responding to Joy’s comment here, Jon.
Perhaps you missed the point of Jon’s article. Instead, you launched right into your defense of Trump instead of considering the different tactics used by each skilled politician to attract and keep an audience on the edge of their seats and wanting more.
Joy, thank you. As a New Yorker for more than 50 years, Cuomo has been a disaster for our state and you won’t find many people who feel otherwise. Speaking on television on one topic does make him presidential. We have the highest taxes, frivolous laws like banning plastic bags which is now the way to go with the virus, and he has said people like me don’t belong here in NY.
As an independent you are showing your strong republican side of the situation. Trump has the right to close off international flights. He also has to let in Americans who were vacationing or on a work related trip abroad to come back home. They didn’t know they were carriers of the virus. I tried to find out where it says whether the Federal or state governments have the rights to shutdown air travel and have come up empty handed. It seems to be a complicated question to answer since an answer wasn’t very forthcoming. As far as closing the border from NJ to NY a lot of people live in NJ and work in NY and have essential jobs as do other border states of NY. Everyone in the beginning had the right to move around freely. As facts became know more rules came into place. The impeachment had nothing to do with any of this. A president or any member of congress should be able to do 2, 3, 4 things at once. That’s what the job entails. If anyone can’t do it then step aside and let those who can, do the job. There are also tons of committees that do all kinds of jobs in congress so this notion that congress is only doing one thing at a time is preposterous. Many bills have been sent to the senate over the years and Mitch McConnell just sits on them and the bills go nowhere. Why aren’t you complaining about that? Also why can’t republicans vote their own conscience instead of being lead by the nose by Mitch McConnell. They only use talking points. They all say the same thing using the exact same words. I guess they get a memo every morning. Democrats may be bad but so are Republicans. Look at the person and what they are truly saying not just looking at whether they are Democrats or Republicans. We need to work across the aisle and get on the same page again. We have no common ground. It has to stop being us against them and calling each other enemies. It is not about Congress or about Trump, it’s about our country, all of us together as brothers and sisters not the enemy.
I’m sorry I was responding to Joy Trevey-Lowell not to Jon Katz.
Joy you said it well. Seems like working together, all of us, we would be better. But no through a hard rough time there is still the nit picking pettiness going on.
Joe Trevey-Lowell, your short reply made more sense then the whole article you were replying to, glad there is still some common sense in the midst of all the BS written for the limelight…
Wow!! The best that our leader did was to prohibit travel from China. He gets good marks for doing what a president should do to protect the citizens. Let’s see…what else did he do to protect us? I won’t enumerate his failure – history and the November election will take care of that. A week ago I was in a store getting necessities and keeping my distance from other shoppers when I heard a man telling the cashier that this virus thing was so overblown and it’s nothing worse than the flu. Sound familiar? So like-minded people are not being careful and they are putting the rest of us at risk. Die-hard Trumpers and Fox only listeners will still stand by the 5th Ave. shooter. Shameful and sad.
well said!
Just so you know, Trump can block flights but no governor can. We tried in PR but the most the FAA aproved was to divert passenger flights to 1 airport so we could do health assessments there. Also, in my experience, in all entities (private/public employers, associations, military, schools, etc.) people usually defer or get queues from their leader before acting or they act quietly as a matter of respect. Only time will tell us what, when, who worked or failed, including us.
I almost don’t have words; really? The idiot in charge did nothing, but it’s the fault of those impeaching the man because he’s a traitor to what it means to be a loyal American.
Joy, please read unbiased news. You don’t sound like an independent. Biden DID NOT say he wouldn’t stop flights, he said that wouldn’t stop the spread of the virus. And has it? Also, reports today say that hundreds of thousands have flown in from China. And do you really think New York spread it to New Jersey???? A virus doesn’t care about state lines, and it was already there.
Joy, why don’t you read what you want, and I’ll read what I want. Deal?
Thank you. So well written. Cuomo is putting people first. Thank goodness for him and Dr. Fauci. The only people I trust at this point to tell us the truth.
I remember as a young first-time mother, reading an Ann Landers advice column posting. I don’t remember the topic, but I remember her response. She said, ” If you do a good deed because you believe in it, people will accuse you of doing it for your own purposes. … Do good anyway.” That is my governor and his CNN reporter brother.
This piece you’ve written is a very well written, deeply thought out, riveting op-ed piece. A unique take on today’s most powerful in your face cultural issue. And I’ll just bet that it might even bring you some notoriety and a significantly increased readership. As with the Cuomos, I very much doubt that you are unaware. … but you have “done good writing anyway.”
I just pray that anyone reading this has the sophistication to understand that this particular issue of great TV is a clever, interesting – but completely irrelevant – side issue when it comes to what we must decide about our future voting. Hopefully they will have the sophistication to realize that Cuomo’s awareness and political aspirations, which you so effectively communicate through the reality-tv vehicle, are secondary to what will affect us all in ways we don’t want to imagine.
Of course Cuomo is aware. Yes, he is politically savvy. And yes, of course he has political aspirations. Yes also, he knows that there are fools who will believe that his awareness or political interests have something to do with how someone should vote for strong leadership.
As you have “done good writing anyway,” it is my belief that in this case at least, New York’s governor will continue to “do good anyway.”
You, my dear have also “done good writing anyway”!
I agree Susan. I agree
Many in New York have found fault with Cuomo. He has not done everything. And he has made mistakes. A good friend of mine describes this as “errors of commission, not errors of omission.” He is leading. He is doing. He has articulated that we, ALL of the U.S., are in this together. He is uniting ALL the hospitals in NYS to work together; to share supplies; to share patients; to change hospital missions (making some COVID, some non-COVID) to better deliver care and utilize resources. And he has asked the President to do the same at HIS level…specifically, to coordinate purchasing of supplies for ALL states, rather than the current free-for-all eBay bidding war approach now being used. The latter approach does nothing to help the citizens, but everything to help short term profits of corporations.
This is a display of very different styles. We will see in the not too distant future which has a more positive impact on helping the people.
Not sure we really have to wait for that verdict. IF they are both putting on shows, which show is for the people and which show is for himself?
And I say Bravo Leslie! This was an excellent article Jon. I appreciated your thoughtful take on the differences between the way the two men are handling this crisis. I, too, look forward to reading more of your articles. I am just disappointed to read some of the comments a few people felt the need to make.
Loved this article. I read your earlier books when you moved to your farm with your BC. Blessings…
This was an incredibly well written article. Fantastic job summarizing the last few weeks of government responses / broadcast between the federal government and New York State. Great job….. well done.
Bravo Jon! I loved your perspective. This is the best analysis I have ever read. Tess
After reading this post I was …well fill in every word of praise , awe you can thinks of. Incredibly readable, interesting, and straight to the heart of Americas dilemma !! If there’s a Pulitzer for Facebook posts , this always wins ,hands down!
I love the “Cuomo Show”. It is not to be missed TV.
This author comparing and contrasting the TV shows of Cuomo to Trump is brilliant. Like all wonderful writing, it helps us see what has been there all the time.
I stumbled onto one of Governor Cuomo’s press conferences last week, having given up on the daily, often self-congratulatory, empty diatribe that airs from the White House. The contrast was stunning.
A fascinating point of view I never would have come to on my own. Thank you for your excellent writing. You have a new fan!
Some of these comments show how hard it is for people to focus on the text itself; they feel the need to drag in their entire baggage and argue points Jon is not making.
To me this has been a useful and new way to view this phenomenon. I tend to pay attention to people who are experts in their field. Thank you, Jon.
Great article Jon! I find myself torn on a daily basis between not wanting to watch 45’s briefing because he’s such a train wreck, and wanting to watch him because he is such a train wreck!
I enjoyed the article. I watched the interview with Chris in the basement as he was recovering from a painful night. I will watch and pay attention to Andrew Cuomo starting now.
Kinda nice that the reporters in New York never ever ask the type of questions that are asked of President Trump. You know the gotchas and the snarky ones. Well written article from someone else that can’t stand the president. Btw, I think they both as well as our other governors are doing a great job.
Stephenie, thank you for the post. My own feeling is that people re-elect Trump after this, then they will all get what they deserve,and I say this with a lot of sadness for our country.
one of the most difficult responses to the trump presidency, for me, is the ugly feeling that people who voted for him ought to get what they deserve for acting so badly and for putting this omnicidal autocrat in charge of our fates. it is a wrong way to feel — but it is a notion that rises now and then, not too often, nonetheless
My dark thoughts about mega gatherings in defiance of social distancing and “stay home” orders to the contrary. Put up emergency fencing around these place. Provide supplies as they are available. Do not go in. Do not endanger our healthcare workers.
Like I said, dark thoughts. I do not recommend them.
Yep liberal reporters always trying to ask gotcha questions. I don’t care what they say, More people were working, economy great. Somehow it is all going to come out that this was created to just get a Democrat president. Sad sad. But truly believe the people see through it all. I for one don’t care about Trumps so called bedside manners.
I love it..us liberal reporters living on farm writing about dogs..wow, I can’t wait to get to the White House Press room.. not here, Sandra, get over to cable news..
Oh My Gosh…this was created to get a Democratic president? Really? In China? Please, take a deep breath and consider this.
Corona Virus is APOLITICAL. It does not care. It is WORLDWIDE now. Infecting and killing people of ALL races, creeds, religions, political affiliations, and sexes. In fact, the more it is ignored, called a hoax, lied about, and trivialized, the STRONGER it becomes, not weaker. This is about science, not opinion or politics.
That anyone could POSSIBLY believe COVID is being perpetrated to get rid of Trump is scary. Really scary.
You’re kidding, right? A gotcha question like: “Have you changed your opinion since calling this a hoax?”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2020/04/04/coronavirus-government-dysfunction/?arc404=true
Stephanie….so true about the questions asked of both Trump and Cuomo. Both are asked about what’s being done on a daily basis to fight the virus, but only Trump is constantly being asked questions about his actions two months ago. If I hear Jim Acosta ask Trump one more time about decisions he made at the start of the pandemic, I’m going to scream! There will be plenty of time to rip Trump apart on how he may have mishandled the beginnings of this crisis after we finally get things under control. And I’m sure journalists like Acosta will do just that. But right now we want current information, ways to combat this virus, how we can work together to get through this, etc. Play the blame game later, but for now just stop it!
Perhaps you might watch Cuomo’s briefings a bit more. He IS asked hard questions. When he doesn’t know, he defers to the others to answer. If they don’t know, he says he’ll find out. He doesn’t lie.
Just a question for thought…do you think it’s possible Trump gets asked the questions he does because he lies, blusters, calls people names, is inflammatory, and exaggerates?
Reporters are in it for the drama too…the more preposterous and dangerous the question, the better the sales and ratings. Like Jon noted, this is TV reality.
Reporters aren’t wasting their time trying to bait Cuomo; he is a straight shooter and doesn’t take the bait. Trump does. It sells really bigly.
Stephanie Fleming: I don’t personally believe there are such things as “gotcha” questions. Many are difficult and reveal a level of pain, confusion, perhaps even accusation. But they still have a core that makes up the question. The challenge for Trump or Como—or anyone— is to take what might feel like an attack and turn it into an opportunity to sound noble, to absorb the “slings and arrows” with grace and even on occasion, with humor. Starting by acknowledging the intended hurt and disarming it altogether with an expression of recognition of its valid points, and then go on to address it with facts—or if appropriate, an apology. Be informed and empathetic—not wounded, insulted, belittled—something a small mind cannot fathom let alone master.
My golly. So well written. Thought provoking pov. Made me tear up! And gives me hope. Cuomo-style ousting Trump-style reminds me of Oprah Winfrey Vs Jerry Springer! Even in midst of this pandemic, our minds can yearn towards normalcy (whatever that will be) and safety, with hope. May the better, not the louder, guy prevail!
A truthful and enlightening perspective. Thank you so much!
Thank you for your excellent observations and sharing them so eloquently. I’ve read this twice because like Como I found it comforting…also sharing it like crazy.
Love listening to Andrew and Chris
Many years ago I moved from NY, many family members still live there. Many of them who are working in the private sector have experienced lowered standards of living. In contrast, those who work in the public sector have improved standards of living. To me that seems out of whack.
The Virus has become the new “Show” to be sure. Time will tell which characters get dumped from the Show. In the end I believe that the “winner: will be the citizens of the USA, those who step up to the beat versions of themselves, and who are inspired by leadership that preserves the greatness of our Nation.
Your article is thought provoking, and no doubt will sway some to shift aisles, in equal numbers.
This is perhaps the most insightful media review piece I have seen in decades!
Thanks Knolly..
You give Trump far too much credit , he is not a genius in any capacity . He was fortunate to fit a need during a time of malevolence , at a time that the disillusionment of the under educated , under employed reached a boiling point due to their paying the heaviest share of a trickle down economy burden . The same under class deprived of infrastructure jobs , health care , education opportunities , decent housing who were being strangled and buried by the diversion of our nations wealth to support petro wars that benefitted the one percenters and Wall Street . Any bigot would have fit the need . A genius does NOT lose a billion dollars , a genius does not get impeached , a genius does not rob charities, a genius does not get indicted once he leaves office.
Let’s not also forget how Kennedy came across visually on television as opposed to Nixon during the debate. Indeed our politicians these days have to be masters of the media. Yes, a Trump Cuomo debate would be very interesting to watch. Thanks Mr. Katz for giving us your balanced perspective.
Yes Cuomo is doing a fine job in this moment, but can we talk about that peculiar American phenomenon of being willing to crown anybody who is a hero in a moment, without considering their past or digging a tiny bit deeper? Months ago a sizable portion of us wanted Michael Avenatti to be our next president. That was a horrible idea. A Cuomo run would be just as disastrous. He has baggage. Lots and lots of baggage. So let’s applaud his response to the pandemic and leave it at that.
I don’t think ANYBODY could carry as much baggage as trump had when he ran for POTUS. The bar being set low has completely hit bottom.
A very accurate assessment of these 2 reality shows. Hopefully articles like this will inspire Americans to elect a real leader with the intelligence and compassion of Andrew-to truly make our country great again! C’mon Andrew-throw your name in the hat because I don’t believe Joe Biden can win this election! Write in ballot campaign or as an Independent. It’s your calling and our country desperately needs you in these times!
As a person who is not in favor of the current president I have long been pondering how to appeal to his supporters to sway them from his influence. Your analysis has opened my eyes to method that underlies his success and shown that it can be countered by a culturally derived strategy that never occurred to me before this. I had been trying to use re-framing of issues, as laid out by George Lakoff and was puzzled by the lack of success that i had with that method. Essentially, what you are saying is that Big Lie media strategy can only be overcome by bigger showmanship, even if one is telling the truth. Thanks for the big reveal. BTW, Bloomberg and Giuliani both played off ‘9/11’ to create a media presence, but neither mounted an effort to serialize the disaster this way. Admittedly, the circumstances were not the same, but they never became media darlings. The media hasn’t seen this type of finessing since the Fireside Chats of FDR.
Very good points, Miriam. This opened my eyes too. I’ve been watching, listening, analyzing in my mind…it all just came together. Whether Cuomo runs remains to be seen…but this discussion should reveal what we have, and where we should be headed.
Wow!!!!!! Extremely well done!!!!!!
Loved your note at the very end, especially this sentence, “It’s about the fascinating popular culture that America has created, and that has obsessed and shaped the politics of our country for years.” The tales of two USA’s if there were ever a mini series to be made. Thank You.
To go beyond this excellent article, unless the department of health would be mandated with federal powers to act across all states, unless health care be made available to all Americans, unless a global health body be put in place, future outbreaks will decimate our dear pale blue planet for years to come.
“Stay social distant but spiritually connected” was something Cuomo said that moved me to tears. I only watch the Trump show to see if Fauci will make a comment or too. The Trump presidency has not aged well. When Jared appeared on stage I almost lost it. My suggestion for the media is to show the other Governors Pressers so we can have a bit of hope about how things are supposed to work.
Your article made me aware that we don’t have a left/right divide. We have a divide about whether reality TV is worth watching. I find almost all reality TV to be unwatchable, manufactured drama. Trumps shows were never watched in my house because they were dreadful. I don’t understand how anyone could be a Trump supporter any more than I can understand how anyone could watch the Apprentice, or the Bachelor, or Duck Dynasty or any of the other crap that passes for entertainment.
Hear, hear. All i knew about The Apprentice was that it was a kind of dog fight. Why would i ever want to see a show whose claim to fame was that some glitzy/sleazy guy yelled at people that they were fired?
It was an honor to read a piece of journalism that was so well thought out and insightful. Thank you for giving me some hope for a more sane future!
Good perspective, BUT, it seems you missed the fact Cuomo is generally considered with NYC, not New York State as a whole. I live in Rochester and he is not paying attention to this corner of the state and our needs.
He just transferred. a boatload of respirators to all areas of NY hospitals.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2020/04/04/coronavirus-government-dysfunction/?arc404=true
Awesome assessment. I haven’t been watching either, but now I want to binge watch the series!!
I am one of those concerned mothers (age 70) who can relate to Gov Cuomo’s mother. I reach for any way I can help my children. We are all searching for a life-line to the truth to do that better. Thank you Gov Cuomo.
Very well done and thorough media review – and I thought Jon, it was extremely thoughtful and informative about leveraging the media tool for whatever the individuals purpose amounts. Words matter, and I appreciated in yesterday’s briefing when a reporter asked about “seizing” ventilators from Upstate NY- Cuomo corrected her and stated ” don’t say that, we are not seizing them, we are sharing resources”. Masterfully done, and in that moment , got ahead of the message, created his own narrative, not the reporters. Words choice does matter, and as you pointed out, Trump has won at the reality TV game consistently, but I concur, in this topic, he may have met his match.
Interesting, Beth…yes, it seems Cuomo DOES get snarky and leading questions. He answers them very differently without attacking.
Fantastic analysis. Thanks. You have one possible edit: “In a reality television show, producers know that the more outrageous, over-the-top, divisive, or over-the-top the message, the more people will love it and come back for more.” You probably have one more over-the-top than you meant to have. … I edit endlessly and still have those little redundancies. Cheers, Rita
Interesting read but also sad if you think about this.I don’t see this a left right thing anymore and if you have been paying attention many of all political persausions understand it’s a right wrong moral versus immoral. The show that’s been going on may be entertaining to some to me it represents what will be the end of this great nation if it continues.No one can really fake competence for very long eventually circumstances require leaders to step up .
One glaring difference in the two shows is how to lead by example. Cuomo and his team sit six feet apart. The reporters are quite far away from each other. Trump and his team crowd the stage together. The reporters are spaced apart, but the rows are quite close together.
The Cuomo brothers are who we want to reflect our best in the dark. Gov. Cuomo keep going! Yes, we can! Katz nails it.
A ver6 well written commentary. I’ve stop listening to Trump’s tanyd but look forward to Cuomo’s broadcasts daily
I was thinking about my comment from yesterday, and I apologize for being a bit harsh. I still stand by what I said, but I think the stress of being in NYS at the moment got to me. It’s wonderful that anyone inspired to share their writing and their thoughts at this time is doing so.
It has been difficult for me to watch the way Trump has insulted and bullied Yamiche Alcindor. It has been difficult for me to hear him call Jay Inslee a snake. It has been difficult to see Cuomo begging for ventilators. It has been difficult for me to see how he has treated Gretchen Whitmer. These are desperate times, and the people insulted are going their jobs and trying to save lives. It may be good drama, but I think it is fundamentally immoral.
I watch the Cuomo show every day and feel good at the end of it !! During this tough time, I would rather hear something logical, truthful and uplifting ! Bravo to you for writing so eloquently. Keep up the good work.
Not another article to smear the president huh? It seems that people would let the politics go just for a pandemic, but no the BS keeps on spreading. Thank you for your opinion. I am so glad we have Cuomo and Trump dealing with this mess. Two very strong leaders doing the best they can. Since you live inside each one of them and REALLY know the truth of how they think, Maybe you could write something helpful doing a crisis for the good of all, like maybe a simple message of encouragement, or maybe you will just play to the Trump haters which is your goal.
What an insightful article.
I find myself pulled into this melee and wasting lots of emotion on the politics of this disaster.
I think your point of view is totally cynical and absolutely accurate.
If we can see this as political theater it’s much more healthy
Great analysis