Return to reality TV is a bad sign for MAGA
More than a decade into his political ascent, it’s remarkable how thoroughly the lesson of Donald Trump has been internalized by the apparatus around him. Now, running low on new ideas and facing mounting public frustration over inflation, war and institutional decay, his MAGA movement is returning to its roots: reality television.
The shape of MAGA’s current media theory looks to convert governance into a content vertical. Driven by a right-wing media ecosystem that rewards digital engagement, the central idea is that the performance of authenticity replaces the need for accountability. The latest examples are almost too on-the-nose to parody. In Los Angeles, a former MTV personality is running a mayoral campaign built around TMZ confrontations. Another, a current Trump administration official, filmed a corporate-sponsored family travel show while serving in government.
Conservative media personalities are celebrating all of it as authenticity, transparency and “real America.” But they expose the fundamental mechanics of the modern right-wing celebrity campaign.
Conservative media personalities are celebrating all of it as authenticity, transparency and “real America.” But they expose the fundamental mechanics of the modern right-wing celebrity campaign: a curated aesthetic of working-class struggle or outsider grievance, funded by corporate interests and designed purely for maximum viewership. What they are actually selling is distraction.
The clearest example may be Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and his wife, “Fox and Friends Weekend” co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy, who have spent months filming “The Great American Road Trip,” a reality-style family travel series timed to America’s 250th anniversary. Produced by the same studio that created “The Real World” — both Duffy and Campos-Duffy starred on different seasons of the iconic reality show in the 1990s — the series follows the couple their nine children traversing the nation over an eight-month period, visiting patriotic landmarks, tourist attractions and conservative celebrity outposts.
The premise is wrapped in familiar Fox News language about faith, family and Americana. But beneath the sentimental marketing sits something more Trumpian: a cabinet secretary effectively starring in a corporate-sponsored lifestyle production funded in part by companies regulated by his own department.
The Great American Road Trip Inc., a nonprofit that funded the Duffy family’s gas, car rentals, lodging and activities, lists among its sponsors travel-related companies including Toyota, Boeing and United Airlines — all with ties to the Department of Transportation, raising serious questions. At least three of those companies — United Airlines, Toyota and Boeing — were previously fined or audited by the very agency Duffy oversees. A Toyota logo appears prominently throughout the show’s trailer. The nonprofit’s executive director, Tori Barnes, is a former lobbyist for the U.S. Travel Association and General Motors — a professional advocate for industries whose federal regulator is now starring in her organization’s content.
According to reporting from Politico, at least one travel-related company declined to sponsor the venture after concluding it was unethical. “You’re paying for access,” one source reportedly described the arrangement. On May 11, the nonpartisan watchdog organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics filed a complaint with the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General, alleging the venture violated federal gift and travel rules.
None of this matters to the Trump-era Republican Party, which no longer even attempts to hide the conflict-of-interest aesthetics that once at least embarrassed Washington. It is just packaged as entertainment content.
The administration’s defenders insist critics are overreacting.
The Transportation Department told NBC News that The Great American Road Trip Inc. is an independent organization, and that how and who they accept donations from is their decision. Career ethics officials at the department, we are assured, reviewed and approved everything.
But as CREW noted, the federal gift rules exist precisely for situations like this: Even if a gift is not technically a “conduit” gift, government employees should decline acceptance if it would cause a reasonable person to question their impartiality — which the Duffy family’s adventure certainly does. The legal parsing of what technically violates a rule is not the same as the ethical question of what a Cabinet secretary should be doing with his time and public platform.
Conservative columnist Salena Zito rushed to frame the series as a patriotic boost for tourism economies, diners, roadside attractions, parks and family businesses. But this framing collapses under the slightest scrutiny. Travel has become unaffordable for many families. And while Zito reports that the national average of gas is $4.53 per gallon, she makes no mention of Trump’s war in Iran, which is causing the fuel spike.
Chasten Buttigieg, the husband of former transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg, captured the frustration with conservative media’s selective outrage. In a post on X, Buttigieg noted that the Duffys “threw endless fits on national television when Pete was working for our son’s ICU bedside are now bragging about their multi-month, taxpayer-funded familly road trip while gas and grocery prices soar for American families because of Trump’s war of choice.”
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MAGA’s governing class increasingly resembles social media personalities documenting luxury experiences while insisting they are “just like you,” a strategy that works because right-wing media has spent years conditioning audiences to confuse visibility with accountability. In MAGA media culture, the presence of cameras itself becomes evidence of authenticity. If politicians allow viewers into their RVs, kitchens or family road trips, supporters are encouraged to believe they must therefore be honest and transparent.
This is why former reality TV personality Spencer Pratt now fits so naturally into conservative political media culture. Pratt — best known as the engineered villain of MTV’s “The Hills,” a man whose own memoir is titled “The Guy You Love to Hate” — is gaining traction in the Los Angeles mayor’s race and being hailed by conservatives as the next great hope for Los Angeles following a debate with Democratic incumbent Karen Bass, whose political fortunes have never really recovered from the fallout of the 2025 wildfires that devastates parts of the city.
Fox News host Sean Hannity told Los Angeles to “wake up.” Kayleigh McEnany echoed Hannity’s phrasing, telling congressional Republicans to “wake up” and “become Spencer Pratt.” Laura Ingraham claimed Pratt appealed to regular Americans with “common sense responses.” Megyn Kelly called him a “star,” and Meghan McCain declared him “the blueprint for how my generation of older millennials needs to communicate and present their ideas and campaign messaging when running for office.” Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush — a man whose own presidential campaign was obliterated by a reality TV host — called a Pratt campaign video “maybe the best political ad of the year.” Elon Musk retweeted Richard Grenell, who urged Angelenos to vote for Pratt. Campos-Duffy also weighed in, praising Pratt’s debate performance while adding, “I’m very partial to politicians coming out of reality television.”
Pratt’s long-shot mayoral campaign has less to do with municipal governance than with content generation.
Pratt’s long-shot mayoral campaign has less to do with municipal governance than with content generation. Debate clips rack up millions of views across Instagram and TikTok. Viral memes circulate faster than policy discussions. If elected, Pratt reportedly plans to continue filming inside City Hall, transforming public office into an ongoing serialized production.
Pratt is now denying reports that he signed a formal deal to film a reality show around his mayoral campaign. Representatives told TheWrap there is “no contract” and “no series in production.” But Deadline reports that cameras are already rolling. Boardwalk Pictures, the production company rumored to be involved, has not released a statement. In the meantime, the controversy triggered yet another wave of Fox News commentary praising Pratt’s “authenticity.”
In many ways, the question of whether there is a signed contract is beside the point. The story has already served its purpose for Pratt, functioning exactly as a reality TV storyline is supposed to. This is a candidate who, after all, already has a Hulu development deal in the works documenting life after the Palisades fires. He and his wife (and “The Hills” co-star) Heidi Montag had been developing a show with Hulu since losing their home in 2025, though it had not yet been greenlit.
There is a reason right-wing media personalities keep gravitating toward reality-style political branding: It bypasses scrutiny. Traditional political reporting asks whether leaders are competent, ethical and effective. Reality television asks whether they are entertaining.
It also normalizes elite privilege by reframing it as relatable aspiration. The Duffys are not ordinary Americans piling into a minivan for a modest summer vacation. They are wealthy media figures traveling with corporate support while one spouse serves in the presidential cabinet and the other hosts a Fox News program — yet conservative media is packaging this experience as populism.
MAGA’s return to its reality TV roots is not happening because the movement has solved its contradictions. What exactly is the modern Republican governing agenda beyond culture war performance and media manipulation? Trump promised cheaper prices. Instead Americans got economic instability and tariff shocks. He promised peace. But global tensions have escalated while the administration lurches toward broader military confrontation abroad. He promised to “drain the swamp.” Yet Washington became even more openly transactional, with billionaires, influencers, media personalities, crypto promoters and loyalist corporations openly cashing in around the presidency.
All that’s left for Trump and his MAGA coalition is lifestyle propaganda — aimed at audiences exhausted by real-world instability.
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from Sophia Tesfaye