Live from Trump Tower

Matt Bai explains how the Trump campaign’s nightly news show on Facebook isn’t only about reaching Trump’s voter; it’s about consolidating his new consumer base, too, which he describes as the “working-class consumer who watched his show and came to his rallies, who aspires to wealth but can never afford a room at the Trump International.”

“Trump’s feed, streaming live from the ‘war room’ in Trump Tower, is remarkable in that it self-consciously mimics everything about your conventional cable show. There’s lively banter between the hosts, a parade of genial guests who appear to have just dropped in, a platinum blond bomb-throwing commentator with no particular qualifications in anything. There’s breaking coverage of Trump’s evening rally, perfectly timed to make air. It shows you, basically, how easy it is for any moron with a laptop and a dream to perfectly imitate the cheerful vacuousness of most TV news.”