What Hulk Hogan taught Trump about politics
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This is a Global Player original podcast. Made this connection between what we see in the wrestling world. If you smell what the rock is cooking. And how that has formed Trump, right? Publicly, his image.
How did Donald Trump's wrestling background influence his political style?
When you're creating a character... What you want to do is you want to create a character so distinguishable that you could recognize them from their silhouette. You know, Trump has a silhouette. You know Trump from the quiff, from the weird T-Rex hands and the jerking off of imaginary ghosts when he's dancing. You know, that is a level.
Why are you here? Let me put it very simply, Vince. I'm taller than you. I'm better looking than you. I think, I think I'm stronger than you. And I'm here to challenge you to a match in WrestleMania.
What? That is Donald Trump speaking to Vince McMahon at the WWE in 2007, a full decade before he became president. He is telling a fantasy, a story. to the wrestling crowd there that he has now managed to tell to America.
What character traits can we identify in Trump's public persona?
We spend a lot of time thinking about how Trump thinks what he thinks. What if all of Trump's thinking basically comes down to the fake reality that is wrestling? What if we're living in Trump's wrestling political world? That is the view of actor and comedian Munya Chihuahua, who thinks to understand Trump, all you really need to do is understand WWE. Welcome to The News Agents. The news agents.
It's Maitlis.
It's Lewis.
And wrestling. Bear with us because we have been talking about Donald Trump pretty much as a world nonstop for the last 10 years. We've run out of superlatives. We've run out of theories. We've run out of descriptions. But there is a way of seeing Trump through the lens of something he loves. It is a world that is pretty much make-believe. It is pretty much fantasy. And it is extremely, extremely wealthy. And it is the world of wrestling. WWE. In many ways, 10 years on, we've run out of superlatives for Donald Trump.
How does the concept of 'kayfabe' relate to Trump's political narrative?
We've run out of names for Donald Trump. but we haven't given up trying to explain where he gets his thing from. Is that a good way of putting it? I'm looking at Munya right now, Munya Chihuahua, who is, as many of you will know, satirist, comedian, but also now the host of a new show on Channel 4 called Wrestling with Trump. And I have to say that everything I know about wrestling comes from Margot's Got Money Problems, which, if you haven't read it, is an absolutely brilliant book, which is all about... the kind of set up of wrestling in our real world. And you've essentially, Munya, kind of made this connection between what we see in the wrestling world and how that has formed Trump, right, publicly, his image.
100%. I mean, I thought you were going to say everything you know about wrestling comes from Lewis, which would have been an absolute huge, to be honest. Well, we haven't got time for that, have we? I love Hulk. Mr. Hogan, what a man. So, yes, the documentary is a thesis, which is to say, look, we all know what Trump's doing all the time. We're totally saturated. But so often we're looking for the why. Why is he doing it? And so, you know, you can go to such a cerebral level with it and an intellectual analysis of this man of this enigma. Or you could just pose a question. Is Trump just like so many young men, someone who absolutely adored wrestling and then decided to violate the golden rule of wrestling, which is don't try this at home?
Trying at home, then in the White House, then on the global stage.
What parallels exist between wrestling storylines and modern political tactics?
We should say you're right, because in case people aren't aware, I mean, he really did love wrestling. Absolutely. I mean, he was genuinely, I mean, there were WWE action figures of Trump, right? Because he was sort of part of the fixture. He would turn up, he would sometimes take part.
in the wrestling matches you know he you know wrestlers like trump because he was he was good to them he hosted wrestlemania's in his buildings he flew out their families people who couldn't afford the tickets to go to wrestlemania we speak to a hall of famer brutus beefcake who just speaks about liking trump because he'd take them all out for steak dinners you know he did the dance of you know just courting these wrestlers and then obviously he took part in a wrestlemania against vince mcmahon yeah second well at one point the most viewed pay-per-view of all time
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:02–0:17
2
How did Donald Trump's wrestling background influence his political style?
0:17–1:23
3
What character traits can we identify in Trump's public persona?
1:23–2:43
4
How does the concept of 'kayfabe' relate to Trump's political narrative?
2:43–4:18
5
What parallels exist between wrestling storylines and modern political tactics?
4:18–6:04
6
How does Trump's behavior reflect the dynamics of wrestling audiences?
6:04–7:48
7
What role does the media play in shaping Trump's public image?
7:48–9:22
8
How can we analyze the impact of Trump's approach on his supporters?
9:22–43:57