Trump's secret sauce

By Casey Lartigue, Jr.

Back in 2007 when I was co-host of the Casey Lartigue Show on satellite radio station XM 169 The Power, my phone lines were burning up as I tried to explain how talk show host Rush Limbaugh uses the anger of his critics to boost his ratings.

The controversy then was Limbaugh's "Barack the Magic Negro" song, a parody of presidential candidate Barack Obama, based on the words of an LA Times commentary. My inspiration was a 1995 column by Thomas Hazlett of Reason Magazine asking: "What propelled Limbaugh?" Hazlett's short answer: "Ratings."

Limbaugh built an audience of 20 million listeners a week, has thrived through five presidential administrations, and replenishes his listener base despite the disruptive disintermediation of the Internet. Only his audience ― not his critics or the media ― can fire him, so he talks to his listeners unfiltered and in context rather than with "gotcha" reporters and news anchors with smaller audiences.

Critics see similarities with candidate Donald Trump: right-wing haters, racist, bombastic. They miss the reasons both seem to be made of Teflon.

As Limbaugh recently noted, Trump "owns the media." Despite not spending any campaign money, "Donald Trump Has Gotten More Nightly Network News Coverage [NBC, CBS, ABC] Than the Entire Democratic Field Combined," according to the Tyndall Report.

It seems that every day the media is shocked, shocked, shocked by something Trump has said. So shocked that they ask him to come on their shows to explain himself, then hold roundtable discussions to analyze his comments. His following means the media can't control, ignore, scare or ruin Trump.

A second key point Hazlett mentioned about Limbaugh that is relevant to Trump: "He sticks his finger in a liberal's eye." Limbaugh gleefully mocks critics in parodies, embracing their criticisms and using their own words reductio ad absurdum.

Critics denounce his audience as mindless dittoheads, so Limbaugh tells listeners (who are in on the gag) to listen to the next show "because I'll tell you everything you need to know, and I'll tell you what to think about it to boot!" Hazlett wrote: "It is a spoof, and the spoofees don't get it."

The spoofees add power to Limbaugh and Trump. Hazlett wrote: "When [Limbaugh] is bitterly attacked as a maniac, a hatemonger, or a bigot, it raises his ratings through the roof." In the 1990s, former president Bill Clinton was one of Limbaugh's biggest critics, meaning that Limbaugh had "the president of the United States as his publicity agent." President Obama did Limbaugh the same favor when he warned Republicans not to listen to him, enhancing Limbaugh's rep as a political outsider.

Trump's supporters enjoy when he doubles down ("Yeah, I said it!") on his spoofees. Limbaugh-style, Trump tweaks those easily outraged, or he winks to fans in the know, "Oh yeah, I may have exaggerated a little. Isn't it fun to set off those politically correct crybabies so easily?"

Without referring to another parallel, Limbaugh said Trump "is the sole occupier of his position." Limbaugh is often a man alone in the media and political talk, saying provocative things that draw media and new listeners to him. Back in 2009, with the world swooning during the honeymoon period after Barack Obama was elected president, Limbaugh was asked to write a 400-word op-ed for the Wall Street Journal. He said he only needed four words, not 400: "I hope he fails."

The cycle repeated: vilification, indignation, media requests and higher ratings. Knowing the media was waiting for him to explain himself, he made them wait, as he often does, before finally addressing the controversy on his show.

One aspect Hazlett didn't mention but that neatly ties together his points came from a recent caller to Limbaugh's show who suggested that people read Trump's book "The Art of the Deal." Trump the businessman starts negotiations with the most outrageous position, then negotiates with wiggle room available. The political example would be Trump's statements about building a wall to block illegal immigration from Mexicans, banning Muslims from traveling to the country and sending illegal immigrants back.

I don't expect critics to stop denouncing Limbaugh or Trump as right-wing haters ― much to the delight of their spoofers. Limbaugh is tracked daily by progressive watchdogs, so I wouldn't be surprised if he gives free website subscriptions to his critics. If Media Matters didn't exist, Limbaugh would have created it. Trump goes on the shows of his critics, knowing his audience enjoys when he tweaks them.

Limbaugh's 27-year career and Trump's campaign have been declared dead numerous times, but still they thrive, with critics complaining that they "keep getting away with it again," just as my callers told me in 2007 about Limbaugh. Perhaps, but as I said then: Those critics are driving the getaway car.

The writer is the director for international relations at Freedom Factory in Seoul and the Asia Outreach Fellow with the Atlas Network in Washington, D.C. Reach him at CJL@post.harvard.edu.