Conway might be the most overexposed of President Donald Trump’s West Wing aides; in November, the Daily Mail published a 59-photo slideshow of the Republican strategist lounging poolside in her bathing suit while on a family vacation in Key Biscayne, Florida.
But she’s not the only White House official who has transformed into a bona fide national celebrity, completing a melding of politics and entertainment that Washington observers say has been years in the making.
Photographers stake out Trump staffers’ homes or venues where they are known to be speaking. Hollywood actors have volunteered to play Trump’s aides on “Saturday Night Live.” And their national name recognition is abnormally high for typically inside-the-Beltway famous jobs.
Press secretary Sean Spicer’s name recognition is above 60 percent nationally, according to a POLITICO/Morning Consult poll this month. That finding was in line with a Quinnipiac University poll in late February, the first time the polling institute ever even polled the favorability of a White House press secretary, according to pollster Tim Malloy…
The easiest explanation for the overnight celebrification of the president’s staffers is that it reflects the man at the top. The “Apprentice” star-turned-president has created a reality show in the White House, with Americans eating up storylines of who is rising, who is fading and who is screwing up. It’s the opposite of how “no drama Obama” dictated the tone and tenor of the West Wing.
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