Trump’s Netflix Strategy (Part I): Something for Everyone

Like Netflix, Trump’s campaign strategy had something for everyone who was paying attention. And it worked.

But before I go any further, let me warn you: this post is going to get a little nerdy and philosophical. But stick with me for a few minutes, because what I’m about to break down matters to all of us. Or at least, it should.

Why Didn’t We See It Coming?

Donald Trump swept all seven swing states in 2024.

Traditional media was shocked. So was much of the country.

But should it have been a surprise?

The polls showed a toss-up ---- but the signs were there all along, hiding in plain sight. While most of us focused on the horse race, Trump was rewriting the rules of political engagement.

At the same time, Kamala Harris ran what political science nerds like me would call a near-perfect campaign --- disciplined, precise, technically flawless, on message. But it was perfect for 2016, not 2024.

Trump's team was playing a different game entirely.

They didn't reinvent retail politics --- they just dragged it into the Netflix era --- the era of on-demand entertainment, news, and information.

While Democratic strategists focused on “staying on message”, Trump met voters where they actually spend their time --- on their phones, in their social feeds, through their favorite content creators.

Think about it: When was the last time you scheduled your day around a TV show?

Exactly.

The well-funded Democratic machine with its carefully worded talking points and scripted prime time events was no match for the raw, unfiltered content of Trump’s digital army. They met folks where they were --- on YouTube, podcasts, and TikTok --- talking about exactly what people cared about. The economy. Their shrinking paychecks. The red tape strangling their small businesses.

But this wasn't some brilliant innovation --- it was Retail Politics 101 adapted for the digital age. Go where the people are, and talk about what matters to them. Simple as that.

So while Democrats were fighting for airtime on declining cable networks --- treating social media like a sideshow rather than a battleground to dominate --- Trump's team was fighting and winning on every digital front. They weren't just posting content --- they were weaponizing algorithms, turning viral moments into voter outreach, and turning every platform into a campaign rally.

The Democrats were fighting the last war. Trump's team was winning the next one.

And a lot of us never saw it coming --- even though it happened right in front of our eyes.

A Shared Reality

Let me tell you about a bygone era –- a world we've already forgotten.

Back in my day (said in my best Gen-X curmudgeon voice), Americans sat down together every night at 6:30 sharp to watch the news together. Not different versions of the news -– the same news. Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather, Peter Jennings — they weren't just talking heads, they were the guardians of our collective reality.

What we didn’t realize then was that we were sharing more than just information. We were sharing an experience -– a foundation -– a starting point for every debate and discussion that would follow.

Sure, we argued about what the facts meant. We fought about solutions. We disagreed about what to do next. But at least we were arguing about the same facts.

That world is gone.

It didn't disappear overnight. First came TiVo --- suddenly we could watch things on our schedule. Then Netflix made everything on-demand.

From there, the evolution was swift. Netflix led the way, followed by Hulu and Prime Video. The podcast revolution emerged around 2014, with Apple Podcasts and Spotify transforming how we consumed audio --- first through narrative storytelling, then expanding into news and current events. The shift culminated as news apps and websites began offering personalized content feeds, while social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter figured out how to customize content based on a user's interests and behavior.

Convenient? Absolutely. Revolutionary? You bet.

In less than a decade, the on-demand media-verse completely transformed how America consumes information. But just as we celebrated our liberation from network TV schedules, we were sleepwalking into a different kind of prison --- a curated reality where invisible algorithms decide what we see, what we know, and ultimately, what we believe.

What we believe. Let that sink in for a moment.

Ten years ago we received the same news, the same information. But today, your news feed looks nothing like mine. Your social media serves you different stories than mine does. Your podcasts tell different narratives --- and the algorithms feeding you all this content? They're designed to keep you comfortable, not informed.

They're not just predicting what you like --- they're shaping what you believe.

This isn't just about convenience anymore --- it's about how we understand the world. When we lost the evening news, we lost more than a time slot --- we lost the common ground that is essential to democracy.

But this is what keeps me up at night: How can we decide anything together if we can't even agree on what's happening? How can we govern ourselves if we're living in completely different realities?

A democracy without shared reality isn't democracy --- it's entertainment, a sport where opposing worlds collide in an endless bloodthirsty battle for dominance, each side righteously convinced they're fighting for the truth, never thinking maybe they’re the ones living in a carefully constructed fantasy.

From Shared Reality to Curated Echo Chambers

Your media feed is lying to you. Not with fake news (though that's a problem too), but with a comfortable, cozy, perfectly curated version of reality.

The algorithms that drive your newsfeed have one job --- to keep you scrolling. And what keeps us scrolling? Content that makes us feel good. Content that tells us we're right.

We're all guilty of it. We click. We like. We share. With every interaction, we're training the algorithms to show us more of what we want to see --- and less of what we don't.

But we’re not just choosing this comfort zone, we're wired for it. Psychologists call it "confirmation bias," – I call it the Netflix effect.

Think about your Netflix queue. It's not just good content --- it's perfectly curated content. Shows that match your taste, that hit your sweet spots. Ideas that resonate with how you see the world.

It feels good because it's designed to feel good --- engineered to match who you are and what you believe.

Now imagine that same addictive customization applied to your understanding of reality itself. That’s how our news feeds work now – except the stakes are much higher.

What we're seeing isn't reality --- it's a carefully filtered version designed to keep us comfortable. To keep us engaged. To keep us from changing our minds. Your perception of reality is different than mine because your newsfeed is different than mine. Yet, both versions feel complete. Both feel true.

But they're not.

In time, something profound happens: The "other side" stops being people with different views --- they become caricatures. Villains in our personal narrative. Their concerns? Irrelevant. Their experiences? Invalid.

We're not just divided anymore --- we're living in perfectly curated parallel universes. And the algorithms are making sure those universes drift further apart every single day.

The Price of Comfort

It's the most expensive thing you never paid for --- a cozy worldview designed just for you.

Sounds great, doesn't it? A perfectly tailored news feed. Stories that confirm what you already believe. A world that makes perfect sense.

But that comfort is making us stupid. Not literally, of course, but functionally. When was the last time you really wrestled with an opposing viewpoint? When did you last change your mind about something important?

Let me show you how this works in the real world.

Picture a Texas voter whose newsfeed is filled with urgent messages about border security— a challenging issue, no doubt. Every day, he's hit with stories about how immigrants are taking American jobs and making our country less safe. What he doesn’t see is anything about how immigration affects his community's farms ---- until he's staring at $7 lettuce in the grocery store, wondering what happened.

Or consider a young professional in Georgia, whose feed is flooded with stories about the need for higher taxes on corporations to ensure the wealthy pay their fair share --- a message that feels right when you're working hard and barely getting by. But what her feed doesn't show her is what comes next: her company --- facing higher costs and stricter regulations --- moves her entire department to Indonesia. Suddenly, "making corporations pay" means she's paying with her job, her health insurance, and her ability to make rent.

This isn't about liberal or conservative --- it's about the machinery of democracy itself. When news becomes nothing but personalized entertainment --- a product designed for comfort rather than to inform --- we lose something essential: the ability to see beyond our own bubble.

We walked right into the trap, but we have no desire to escape. Why would we ever challenge our own beliefs when our feeds tell us we're right?

Democracy demands more from us. It demands curiosity --- even when curiosity makes us uncomfortable. It demands courage --- especially when faced with ideas that challenge us. It demands that we step out of our comfort zones and into the messy, complex, real world where actual solutions live.

If we don’t, we’re not really practicing democracy anymore --- we're just performing it.

So What Do We Do Now?

Look, we’re not going back to the Walter Cronkite days. Honestly, why would we? I love my Netflix binges, my favorite podcasts, and my ability to read the news while standing in line for coffee.

But therein lies the challenge: Staying informed in a world designed to keep us comfortable rather than educated.

I've got some ideas. None of them are easy, but all of them matter.

Break Your Echo Chamber

Want to really understand what's happening? Start reading people you disagree with. Not the trolls --- the thinkers.

If you're conservative, spend some time with The Nation or read Ezra Klein. Liberal? Read some Peggy Noonan or George Will, or dig into National Review. Don't just skim --- consume. The goal isn't to change your mind --- it's to understand why smart people see things differently than you do.

And here's a litmus test for you: If you're digging into The Nation and you find yourself thinking, "I just can't do this" --- that's an indication you need to do it more. That visceral resistance, that intellectual discomfort --- that means you've found exactly the kind of thinking that can expand your understanding. The temptation to retreat to familiar views is precisely why we need to push through. It's in these moments of cognitive friction that we develop not just better arguments for our own positions, but genuine insight into why others hold theirs.

Get Uncomfortable on Purpose, and In Person

Find someone who voted differently than you in the last election. Not your conspiracy-posting uncle ranting on social media --- find someone thoughtful who sees the world differently and sit down with them, face to face. It's easy to dismiss someone when you're hiding behind a keyboard, but something changes when you're talking over a beer, or cup of coffee.

Ask them real questions. Not "how could you believe that?" but "what experiences shaped your perspective?" or "help me understand why you see things that way."

And listen to comprehend, not respond. Like you're trying to solve a puzzle, not win a debate.

You don't have to agree. You probably won't. But understanding beats arguing every time.

Master the Art of Fact-Checking

Here's a truth about the internet: The more perfectly a story confirms your beliefs, the more suspicious you should be. So before you hit that share button, ask yourself:

Who's really behind this story, and what do they have to gain?

Why am I seeing this right now, and what's the timing trying to accomplish?

Then dig deeper. Follow the trail back to its source. Cross-reference multiple outlets, and never share anything you haven't verified from at least two reputable sources. Yes, it takes time. Yes, it's inconvenient. But in a world of algorithmic manipulation, skepticism isn't cynicism --- it's citizenship.

And no, your friend's Facebook post doesn't count as a source.

Think that's too much work? Consider this: Every time you share misinformation, you're making it harder for everyone to find the truth, including yourself.

And please, don’t share or repost anything unless you’re 10,000% certain that it’s true.

The Hardest Part

Want to know the real challenge? It's not finding good information --- it's being willing to be wrong.

Every time you read something that challenges your beliefs, there's a voice in your head that wants to dismiss it. Listen to that voice --- then challenge it.

Because being wrong sometimes is the price of being right when it matters.

This isn't about perfect information --- that doesn't exist. It's about being slightly less wrong today than you were yesterday. It's about building the muscle of critical thinking in a world designed to keep you intellectually lazy.

Is it hard? Absolutely. Is it time-consuming? You bet. Is it worth it? More than ever.

Because we can’t do democracy like we do Netflix. Democracy isn't a spectator sport --- it's a practice. And right now, we all need to practice harder.

The Wake-Up Call

Let me tell you what Trump's team understood that everyone else missed: You don't build an audience anymore --- you find one where it already exists.

Simple, right? Almost obvious. Yet it changed everything.

Both parties will get better at this game. They'll master the algorithms, perfect their targeting, craft more compelling content. And it will only make things worse if we don't get better at being citizens.

Because right now, most of us are practicing democracy like we're scrolling through Netflix --- passively consuming whatever feels good, letting algorithms decide what we should know about our world.

And that's not citizenship --- that's surrender.

The Hard Truth

This isn't about technology ruining democracy. It's about us giving away something priceless, one click at a time.

Remember Brokaw and Rather? They didn't tell us what to think --- they gave us facts and said, "Here, this is yours now. Wrestle with it. Question it. Debate it." They trusted us to figure it out.

That trust --- that responsibility --- was the foundation of our democracy.

But somewhere along the way, we got lazy. Comfortable. We handed over our brains to algorithms that aren’t concerned with the truth --- only about keeping us engaged. And keeping us scrolling. About keeping us separate, certain, and angry.

And with every unquestioned headline and every reactive share, we're giving away the power to shape our future.

And the longer you let someone --- or something ---- hold that power for you, the harder it is to take back.

The Choice

So here we are. We have a decision to make.

We can keep scrolling mindlessly through our democracy, letting algorithms and engagement metrics determine what we know about our world.

Or we can wake up.

Democracy isn't a spectator sport. It never was. It's not for the comfortable --- it's for the curious. The engaged. The brave. The ones willing to step outside their comfort zones and ask hard questions. The ones willing to be wrong sometimes in their pursuit of what's right.

Truth isn't easy. It's not convenient. It doesn't come pre-packaged in bite-sized headlines or viral memes.

But it's worth fighting for. Worth working for. Worth stepping away from our comfortable certainties to find.

Because in the end, democracy isn't something that happens to us --- it's something we do together.

And right now? We need to do it better.

Stay tuned for Part II of Trump's Netflix Strategy – coming soon!