The Tonight Show is built to liquify all phenomena into content. Trump, the political reactionary and demagogue, the harbinger of a crisis, was treated not as a threat to democracy or a figure of public concern, but just another wacky celebrity guest willing to play along. Fallon and his show are not horrifying because they are malevolent, actively creating suffering in the world, but because of a thoughtless, systematic refusal to perceive any of their work as having ethical consequences. Trump’s monstrosity becomes merely eccentric, as neoliberal media packaged as entertainment normalizes a failing status quo.
What the heck is this crap?