Trump may be just the beginning of celebrity politicians

“It’s not crazy to detect a rising trend of celebrity as a credential for entering politics at a very high level,” says Bill Galston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, “but it’s not a sufficient codicil for political success, or even a necessary codicil.”

It’s also a mistake to see Trump simply as a celebrity, says Galston. Celebrity was the platform on which he built his campaign, but he ran on trade, immigration, and an America First foreign policy. “He didn’t say ‘vote for me, I’m a celebrity;’ he said ‘vote for me, I happen to be a celebrity with ideas and feelings that match your own. Not a bad idea to have me on your side.’”