MSNBC’s Chris Hayes has a theory for how Donald Trump won the election — and it involves exploiting a talent the host has found central to his own success.
Hayes wrote in the New York Times Friday that the modern world is terrified of boredom. That’s a fact he said he’s used to secure a successful career — and he said Trump honed in on it to tempt voters.
“I try to hold people’s attention for a living,” Hayes wrote.
“ … Boredom lurks around every corner in our lives. I’ve come to view it, specifically its avoidance, as the silent engine of modern life. Attention, where we put our conscious thoughts in any given moment, is the substance of life. We are painfully aware of the constant claims on our attention — the buzz and zap of the phone and push notifications and texts and little red circles that alert us that there’s more to pay attention to that we haven’t even gotten to yet.
“Under this assault, it’s easy to feel that we’re trapped in an age that leaves no space for us to simply sit and think. But it’s worth noting that as much as the current forms of attention capitalism exist to take our attention, there is some very deep part of us that wants it taken.”
An ability to promise an avoidance of boredom is exactly how Hayes’ TV show — and others like it — draw in massive audiences, he wrote.
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And the same theory was understood by Trump.
“In the wake of Donald Trump’s second electoral victory, a viral tweet from October 2016 once again started circulating: ‘I feel bad for our country. But this is tremendous content,’” he wrote.
“... For many millions of Americans, perhaps including the crucial slice of swing voters who moved their votes to the Republican nominee in 2024, Mr. Trump is the consummate content machine. Love him or hate him, he sure does keep things interesting.
“I’ve even wondered if, at some level, this was the special trick he used to eke out his narrow victory: Did Americans elect him again because they were just kind of bored with the status quo?”
