Why the Trumps are imagined as bizarro parents for MAGA

Today’s episode of “Standing Room Only” draws from two articles I wrote for Salon: one on why MAGA calls Donald Trump “Daddy” and another analyzing the gender politics of Melania Trump’s “Dear President Putin” letter.

As I argue, the two stories share DNA, which is the blunt, reductive gender roles pushed by authoritarians. Daddy is a bully and Mommy is the clean-up crew. It’s gross, but I think it’s enlightening — certainly fascinating. Check it out!

Melania is always faking it

My guest, Lux Alptraum, wrote a book on why women fake it, which, as the title suggests, is focused on sex. I asked her to talk about another way that Melania fakes it: by pretending to be a caring and compassionate person, which she very much is not.

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Encore song of the week: “Too Funky” by George Michael

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