How Trump Can Win This Election

It became clear this week.

For all the rallies, town halls and events candidate Donald Trump has held, one of the most effective forums he has ever had…was a late night comedy talk show.

Trump taped with Fox’s Greg Gutfeld, and in the semi-circular setting of Gutfeld’s eclectic pals, Donald Trump was as engaging, warm and on-point as he has ever been.

After all, it was this man’s facility with the medium of television, from guest appearances and interviews, to Oprah and “The Apprentice”, that raised his profile enough to run for president in the first place.

Sure, millionaire businessman, etc. etc., but TV is what makes you real and relatable in this age. I could find you dozens of guys with Trump’s financial profile—none of them have his media portfolio.

Anyway, back to “Gutfeld”.

It was something the Vice President could never do, because you have to be spontaneous, open and funny. She is not. He quipped that “I always said golf is a very dangerous game”.

He was disarming about the well-wishing calls from Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, if he (Trump) really is an existential threat.

Saying he was either “very lucky” or “something is up there, someone is up there…watching over us” and that Butler and Palm Beach had made him think more about God.

He was a natural.

If I were Trump’s adviser, or had the ear of conservative donors, I’d point to this TV appearance as the shape of things to come. “Politics is downstream from culture,” someone, maybe Andrew Breitbart, once said. You can’t change people’s minds about politics only in political venues, like news channels and news magazines. You have to recognize that much of what people think and “know” about government, corporations, institutions, religion, history and tradition comes from the entertainment “culture” in their lives.

Even awareness of this truth will do most political figures no good, since they have no comfortable way of traversing into the entertainment world. When they make a “cameo” where we don’t expect them, it’s usually cringey. Hence, the need for the Taylor Swift endorsements and assorted diatribes at concerts and awards show telecasts from their show biz surrogates.

When you can go on a hugely popular show like “Gutfeld”, which is provably watched by many who watch no other Fox programming,  and look like you belong…you should do it more and more.

It’s where the election is up for grabs.