Trump’s war for attention
Plus: Tate McRae stuns in “Sports Car” video
More than any American politician, President Donald Trump knows how to wield attention as a political weapon. But what happens when people no longer want to give it to him?
Welcome to this week’s issue of Whig. Read to the end to learn a Kidz Bop fact that will make you feel old. — Hunter
Trump’s war for attention:
A funny thing happened after Carrie Underwood performed at last week’s Inauguration: her streaming numbers dropped. While major televised performances typically result in streaming bumps for artists, Billboard found Underwood’s on-demand streams fell nearly 6% from the week before. The same thing happened to Nelly, who performed at the Liberty Inaugural Ball and saw his week-over-week streams fall 5%. Meanwhile streams for Kid Rock, who performed at an Inauguration eve rally and whose fan base leans more MAGA than mainstream, experienced a modest increase of about 1%.
Perhaps the anemic streaming numbers are the result of Trump’s low ratings. Nielsen data found an average of 24.6 million viewers watched the Inauguration, down from both 2021 and 2017. But I wonder if it also says something larger about a tired nation’s new approach to Trump at the start of his second term. An NBC News poll last year taken before former President Joe Biden dropped out of the race found Trump won voters who don’t follow political news 53% to 27%. Now those who do follow political news are cutting back.
There’s a lot of life to live in four years, and in conversations with friends and loved ones who didn’t vote for Trump, it’s not as if they’re checked out completely, they’re just not letting this man live rent free in their heads all day. I wonder if Americans this time around are taking a more stoic, measured approach to the news. No one’s canceling Underwood for her performance. But they are using the time they would have otherwise spent listening to her to do other things. What might that portend for a second Trump term?
Trump’s pardons of the Jan. 6 rioters are unpopular:
A Reuters-Ipsos poll released last Tuesday after Trump issued “a full, complete and unconditional pardon” to about 1,500 people who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021—including people who assaulted law enforcement officers—found 58% oppose the pardons.
Among those opposed to the pardons is one woman who got one. Pamela Hemphill, who was convicted of a misdemeanor for her role in the attack, said she won’t accept Trump’s pardon because it “would be an insult to the Capitol Police officers, to the rule of law, to our nation.” “I don't want to be a part of their trying to rewrite what happened that day,” she said.
Already, one man pardoned for his role in the attack has been arrested again. Daniel Charles Ball, who was accused of throwing an explosive device in the Capitol, was arrested again last Wednesday on gun charges. Sen Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told Meet the Press on Sunday he thought Trump’s pardons were “a mistake, because it seems to suggest that’s an OK thing to do.”
Trump’s having no trouble getting his cabinet nominees through:
Trump’s nominee for Defense Secretary, former Fox & Friends Weekend co-host Pete Hegseth, was confirmed late Friday despite a last-minute report he paid $50,000 to a woman who accused him of sexual assault in 2017, which he confirmed in an answer to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) during the confirmation process, and a sworn affidavit from his former sister-in-law that Hegseth’s ex-wife feared for her safety, which he denied.
Three Senate Republicans, Sens. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Susan Collins of Maine, joined Democrats to vote against Hegseth, forcing Vice President J.D. Vance to break the 50-50 tie. It was just the second time in U.S. history a Veep had to break a tie to confirm a cabinet nominee. Meanwhile former South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem was confirmed Saturday as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security on a 59-34 vote with seven Democrats voting in favor.
This week will see hearings for other controversial nominees including former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii as director of national intelligence, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services secretary and Kash Patel as FBI director. One anonymous Senate Republican who’s so far voted for all of Trump’s picks told NBC News there’s more reticence around Trump’s national security picks “because this is the future of the country. It’s not entertainment television.” We’ll see.
Kamala Harris just started an LLC:
It’s called “Pioneer49” after the “Pioneer” code name the Secret Service used for former Vice President Kamala Harris when she was in office, and 49 for her being the 49th vice president. The organization is described in disclosure forms as an “entity to assist the former vice president,” and its name mirrors that of former President Barack Obama, code name “Renegade,” who formed Renegade44 after leaving office. For those who are wondering, Trump’s Secret Service code name, at least during his first term, was “Mogul,” and Biden’s was “Celtic.”
Karine Jean-Pierre reveals mom’s cancer diagnosis:
In an essay penned for Vanity Fair, former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said she had a “second full-time job” while working for Biden: taking care of her mother who has stage 2 colon cancer. Jean-Pierre wrote that she visited her mom every weekend in New York and kept it secret from even her coworkers.
“If I were to share the news of my mother’s diagnosis or any other issues in my personal life, it would be seen as an excuse,” she wrote. “Society doesn’t allow women of color to be vulnerable at work.”
The Bush family group chat sounds fun:
Former first daughter Jenna Bush Hager said her father former President George W. Bush’s facial expressions at the Inauguration are “blowing up our family group chat.”
“The internet's obsessed with this little smile and goofy expression,” Bush Hager said. “He goes viral for basically anything. He didn't do anything. I mean, that's what his face looks like.”
Here’s Melania’s new official FLOTUS portrait:
First Lady Melania Trump shared her official portrait for her husband’s second term. The black-and-white portrait is by photographer Régine Mahaux, who also shot Trump’s gauzy portrait in term one. It was taken last week in the Yellow Oval Room of the White House residence with the Washington Monument in the background. If a picture is worth a thousand words, this time it appears she means business.
LG7 is going to be called Mayhem:
Lady Gaga announced the title and tracklist today of her seventh studio album Mayhem, out March 7. “The album started as me facing my fear of returning to the pop music my earliest fans loved,” Gaga said in a statement, adding that she’s “reassembling a shattered mirror: even if you can’t put the pieces back together perfectly, you can create something beautiful and whole in its own new way.”
The graphics of the promotional video she put out are pure goth, which is always a good sign for Gaga. The album will feature “Disease” and her duet with Bruno Mars, “Die With a Smile,” which is No. 1 on this week’s Hot 100 for a fourth consecutive week.
We’re getting another Swiftie Bowl:
Congratulations to Taylor Swift’s boyfriend’s football team, which is headed to its third consecutive Super Bowl, but second with Swift as its most famous W.A.G. If the Kansas City Chiefs win in their rematch with the Philadelphia Eagles next month, they’ll become the first team in NFL history to win a Super Bowl three-peat.
Selena Gomez speaks out on deportations:
More than 900 people were arrested Sunday as part of Trump’s immigration crackdown, the most since he returned to office. In a tearful Instagram Story post, Selena Gomez said, “all my people are getting attacked, the children. I don’t understand. I’m so sorry, I wish I could do something but I can’t. I don’t know what to do. I’ll try everything, I promise.”
Gomez later deleted the video and wrote, “Apparently it’s not ok to show empathy for people.”
Tate McRae stuns in “Sports Car” video:
There are two things Tate McRae is especially good at: sad songs that remind you hot girls deal with unrequited love too, and bangers inspired by ‘00s pop. “Sports Car” is the latter. She and co-writers Ryan Tedder, Julia Michaels, and Grant Boutin said let’s make a sequel to Pussycat Dolls’ “Buttons” and they delivered.
The music video, directed by Bardia Zeinali, was an attempt at creating “a visual that felt like the MTV level of visuals we grew up on,” Zeinali told Vogue, and it marks a milestone for any pop star: it’s the first time McRae wore a wig.
“This was such a fun song to write,” McRae told Vogue. “I felt like a sports car reminded me of that feeling of love, and like you are right in the middle of it. We referenced the Ying Yang twins with the whisper chorus and it ended up being really fun.”
Katy Perry shares her pop star cheat codes:
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Katy Perry said that in pop music “especially with women, they have a lot of pressure on them. It’s amazing to have people that you look up to tell you how to navigate that. I get to do that and I like to give the cheat codes.”
Perry said she told Chappell Roan to not read the comments, and she told Doechii to not forget to touch grass, basically.
“I’m like, ‘Girl, here are the cheat codes. Try this. If you don’t only want to survive, if you want to thrive, if you want to have a whole life outside of this and an identity, if you want to live a human experience and not just be famous and tucked away in a hotel somewhere, never truly getting to experience the beauty of life,’” Perry said.
Xtina raises money for California fires:
To raise money for the American Red Cross and those impacted by California fires, Christina Aguilera is selling a limited-edition tee. “100% of profits will go directly to providing food, shelter, and support to those impacted by the California fires,” Aguilera wrote on Instagram. “Together, we can make a difference and bring hope to those in need.”
Charli XCX is getting into acting:
For her next project, Charli XCX is acting in and producing a film called The Moment with A24. The movie will be the first from her new production company Studio365, and the score will be produced by Brat producer A.G. Cook.
Kidz Bop is nearly old enough to be kicked off its parent’s healthcare:
Kidz Bop 50 was released earlier this month with sanitized versions of hits like Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” and Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!” Feel old yet? The New York Times is out with a fun look at the long-running series, which will mark its 25th anniversary next year. “Sometimes I’ll be singing a song and I’ll be like, ‘That’s the Kidz Bop version. Why am I singing that?’” said Jayna Elise, who once sang for the series.
Thanks for reading! See you next week. ⭐