Wrestling With Trump is a fascinating look at how the Donald's brash, bullying political style is inspired by WWE

"Three relevant elements: hyperbole, smack talk and kayfabe (more on this later). The first is the one we most associate with Donald: fact-allergic triumphalism, an I met Michael Jordan and he said I'm better at basketball type energy. The second is his strategic rudeness, the crooked Hillary and sleepy Joe nicknames, designed to enlist crowd-bullying as much as belittle opponents. The most far-reaching in its implications is the third term. (Which is something most of us hope Trump doesn't get.)"

"We cringe at WrestleMania 23 footage, in which Trump appears, pushing promoter Vince McMahon and punching him in the head, the so-called Battle of the Billionaires. We're reminded how many wrestlers, including the Undertaker and Kane, now stump for Trump; that Hulk Hogan ripped his shirt open at the Republican National Convention in 2024, shouting Let Trump-a-mania rule again! It's all very funny, though of course it isn't."

"Let's call it the theory of knocking everyone unconscious. We meet the aide who advised Trump on how a crowd-rousing pantomime of good v evil could be politicised. So, what exactly is Trump's wrestling playbook? Three relevant elements: hyperbole, smack talk and kayfabe (more on this later)."

Freud’s unconscious and Jung’s collective unconscious are presented as concepts that reshaped understanding of people and the world. A documentary proposes a new idea that the American president’s political style was borrowed from WWE SmackDown, described as a theory of knocking everyone unconscious. The account includes meetings between Trump and a wrestling-informed aide, and references to WrestleMania 23 footage showing Trump in a staged “Battle of the Billionaires.” It notes wrestlers who support Trump and highlights Linda McMahon’s role as US secretary of education. The proposed wrestling playbook centers on hyperbole, strategic rudeness through nicknames, and kayfabe, meaning a shared suspension of disbelief that keeps the spectacle convincing.

Read at www.theguardian.com