Trump’s speeches lack the gravitas of those by Reagan or Roosevelt, but of course that’s not the point. Trump operates as he does because he can’t be shamed into behaving properly, and his audience doesn’t want him to. In this way, Trump supporters and the Black Lives Matter and identity-politics campus protesters have more in common than one might think. All these constituencies are unhappy with the status quo to the point of near violence, and no longer care what their supposed betters think about them. They represent “viral” political cultures angry because they think no one is listening

Trump’s unapologetic attachment to politically incorrect statements is not a “bug” but a feature of this new media machinery and he’s good at exploiting in it. The “transgressive” nature of his statements generates more value in “earned media” than the validity of any statement on policy. This rule works whether he’s calling some Mexican immigrants “criminals,” ruminating about a database of American Muslims or telling Fox News that “you have to take out” (i.e. kill) the families of Islamic State members.

The nation has survived radio demagogues like Louisiana Gov. Huey Long and Father Charles Coughlin in the 1930s and television-era dividers like George Wallace in the 1960s, two decades with more than their share of cultural upheaval. If this moment tells us as much about the medium as the message, expect a “reality show” skill set to become more prominent in future political campaigns, for better—or perhaps for worse.