Erica Frantz

Yeah, so you've identified a number of things that are fairly troubling in terms of like from a democracy expert perspective. And that is that we might think of the media as like a fourth branch of government. The media play a critical role in keeping our leaders in check. And calling out corruption scandals and all sorts of things.

Yeah, so you've identified a number of things that are fairly troubling in terms of like from a democracy expert perspective. And that is that we might think of the media as like a fourth branch of government. The media play a critical role in keeping our leaders in check. And calling out corruption scandals and all sorts of things.

And so the obsession that we are observing from Trump in terms of ensuring that nothing negative is stated about him, even if it's something as minor as the poll, as you mentioned, is troubling because that's a classic part of the playbook. where we nearly always see these leaders that are intent on securing more control target the media.

And so the obsession that we are observing from Trump in terms of ensuring that nothing negative is stated about him, even if it's something as minor as the poll, as you mentioned, is troubling because that's a classic part of the playbook. where we nearly always see these leaders that are intent on securing more control target the media.

And they're either going to do it by sidelining the media, either through lawsuits, as you mentioned, that could bankrupt them, or by gaining more control over the media. We saw this with Orban in Hungary, where now the media in Hungary are pretty much fully under the Orban regime's control.

And they're either going to do it by sidelining the media, either through lawsuits, as you mentioned, that could bankrupt them, or by gaining more control over the media. We saw this with Orban in Hungary, where now the media in Hungary are pretty much fully under the Orban regime's control.

Circling back to the bankruptcy thing, though, I did want to mention, it's interesting you said that, because in Singapore, under the People's Action Party, one way that they are able to prevent their opponents from gaining much influence is by suing them in these libel lawsuits that bankrupt these individuals.

Circling back to the bankruptcy thing, though, I did want to mention, it's interesting you said that, because in Singapore, under the People's Action Party, one way that they are able to prevent their opponents from gaining much influence is by suing them in these libel lawsuits that bankrupt these individuals.

So by targeting these individuals through these kind of minor libel lawsuits, they're able to bankrupt them and minimize the threat. And that's kind of this very effective tactic because it's not this like super easily observable red flag that democracy is falling apart.

So by targeting these individuals through these kind of minor libel lawsuits, they're able to bankrupt them and minimize the threat. And that's kind of this very effective tactic because it's not this like super easily observable red flag that democracy is falling apart.

But it is a subtle thing that accumulates to a larger problem where if there are enough of these media organizations that go out of business or that are self-censoring, that we no longer have that kind of fourth check on the executive that I mentioned.

But it is a subtle thing that accumulates to a larger problem where if there are enough of these media organizations that go out of business or that are self-censoring, that we no longer have that kind of fourth check on the executive that I mentioned.

So I tend to think that the personality of the leader is unimportant and that instead politics is an outcome of institutions and institutional bargaining and things and relationships and so forth. But one thing that we do observe is that when individual politicians personalize their party, let's say, that type of power and influence tends to lead to more narcissistic behavior.

So I tend to think that the personality of the leader is unimportant and that instead politics is an outcome of institutions and institutional bargaining and things and relationships and so forth. But one thing that we do observe is that when individual politicians personalize their party, let's say, that type of power and influence tends to lead to more narcissistic behavior.

So rather than seeing like this underlying narcissism as something that is going to predict power concentration, I think it's important to identify the ways in which power can shift the attributes of these leaders. And they tend to become obsessed with their own image and obsessed with the ways in which they're portrayed in the media. This is not something that is unique to Trump.

So rather than seeing like this underlying narcissism as something that is going to predict power concentration, I think it's important to identify the ways in which power can shift the attributes of these leaders. And they tend to become obsessed with their own image and obsessed with the ways in which they're portrayed in the media. This is not something that is unique to Trump.

We see it in a variety of contexts, particularly in authoritarian contexts, where leaders become obsessed with their own image. They build these personality cults. There's stories in Mobutu Zaire of him on the news making sure that he was descending from the heavens on the nightly news every day. So that is part of this personality cult, an obsession with having a positive image in the media.

We see it in a variety of contexts, particularly in authoritarian contexts, where leaders become obsessed with their own image. They build these personality cults. There's stories in Mobutu Zaire of him on the news making sure that he was descending from the heavens on the nightly news every day. So that is part of this personality cult, an obsession with having a positive image in the media.

So leaders don't want news headlines that are critical of them, right? It is going to be a challenge. And Trump has been very savvy at navigating the media, right? And at developing his own media company and so forth, similar to the ways in which Bukele has been really savvy.

So leaders don't want news headlines that are critical of them, right? It is going to be a challenge. And Trump has been very savvy at navigating the media, right? And at developing his own media company and so forth, similar to the ways in which Bukele has been really savvy.