Donald J. Trump is a prominent businessman, who is mostly known for his outlandish television persona on "The Apprentice," and has recently become a presidential candidate for the United States of America. Through utilizing his edgy attitude and manipulating the media, Trump has not only built himself an empire literally but also figuratively as a huge social media presence in today's society. Trump has managed to rise from a businessman to a, dare I say, potential primary candidate for president, despite his several bankruptcies, polar comments on immigrants, and untamed hair. He has risen through the polls through advertising himself to the masses through televised media and social media, and evidently, not spending a cent on it since he declared his candidacy in June.
Donald Trump manages these feats by going on television networks to be interviewed and broadcasts his eccentric personality. He recently took a slightly different approach and decided to host "Saturday Night Live" last weekend. The result of all this media attention is the uproar of millions in the United States, which could be made into potential voters, all without spending a penny. All this and Trump has remained at the peak of the polls for weeks. Ashley Parker, writer for the "The New York Times," quoted Dave Levinthal, the senior political reporter at the Center for Public Integrity, and says "TV ads are necessary, they can be effective, but in terms of overall value, being the host of 'Saturday Night Live' is probably going to get you a lot more as a candidate than 20 'super PAC' ads." Levinthal explains how television advertisements for presidential candidacy are fading in the shadows, becoming a sign of desperation for whichever candidate uses them. The effective way to target and create an audience in contemporary America is through social media primarily and television shows, as shown by Donald Trump.
Interviews are not Donald Trump's only specialty, he has invested a good amount of energy in social media such as Twitter. Trump vocalizes his thoughts live on the democratic debates, puts up statistics in his favor, and responds to supporters. All of his controversial tweets are then broadcasted by the media. "The New York Times" states that at about this time in 2011, Republican candidates have spent "...$6.7 million, compared with roughly $35 million this cycle, according to Kantar Media..." This means that the Republican candidates are spending more than five times the rate at which was spent last election. But all this spending on television ads has not led to an increase in gains in the polls. For instance, Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush have broadcasted over 7,000 commercials each, yet neither has gained much in polls. While Donald Trump is moving around from network to network, broadcasting his views publicly and live. Donald Trump may be regarded as obtuse, but that does not take away from the fact that he is a genius at manipulating the media.
If a man as polarizing and filter free as Donald Trump is getting a large amount of supporters who believe he is a viable candidate, shows how social media, in this millennium, can promote and inflate silly characters. Once a celebrity who was known for yelling "you're fired" and being rich, has now turned into a serious candidate for president, which really puts in perspective the power of media and social media and how it can polish the ugly and glamorize hate.
