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I met with a producer for a pretty popular TV show the other day. They asked me what my character was—like I was pitching a persona for WrestleMania. It was a weird moment, but a depressing reminder: to a lot of people, politics isn’t about public service. It’s a performance.
And people are just playing characters.
One of the biggest stories of the week is that Karine Jean-Pierre, the former White House Press Secretary under President Biden, has announced she’s leaving the Democratic Party, registering as an Independent, and dropping a tell-all book about her time in the Biden administration.
It immediately brought to mind Lindy Li—a so-called Democratic fundraiser who, on the night of the election, flipped parties and somehow became an overnight sensation on the right. Before that, nobody I know in my 20 years in politics had even heard her name. And yet, there she was, suddenly embraced by MAGA media and monetizing her new role as a grifter within days.
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Karine’s move feels just as calculated—and craven at a time when the GOP is about to rip health care away from 16 million Americans to pay for another round of tax cuts for the ultra rich.
Her time at the podium didn’t earn Karine many fans, and with Biden’s standing where it is nationally, she clearly sees more upside in a shallow reinvention than in loyalty or principle. Word is, she made the decision to leave the party and write the book after MSNBC declined to give her a show after the election. So now she’s Karine the Independent—rebranding herself as someone ready to expose what’s wrong with the Democratic Party—after years of defending it.
It’s exhausting. And it's not new.
This performative shape-shifting reminds me of Bill Maher’s dinner with Donald Trump, where he gushed about how “different” Trump seemed—nicer, more thoughtful. No kidding. Trump’s been playing a character for years, and it works. He’s literally a WWE Hall of Famer who once feuded with Vince McMahon on live TV for the right to shave his head at WrestleMania.
I loathe the idea of becoming a character in modern American politics. I just want to be me—and I just want to get shit done. I want the courage of my convictions. I want to say when Democrats are right and when they’re wrong (and if you’ve been watching my live videos, you’ve seen a lot of both.) I want to call out corruption and Donald Trump for ruining people’s lives. I want to fight for working people who are struggling, and stay grounded in the reasons I got into this in the first place (I dropped out of college in 2007 after protesting the Iraq War for years to become a fellow on the Obama campaign.)
I don’t want to become some PR-crafted persona because I lost influence or saw more money or opportunity on the other side. I actually believe in what I’m fighting for. I actually want to help people. I want to stay and fight for a better Democratic Party that acts with endless urgency to improve lives.
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Watch out for the folks in American politics who care more about building a fanbase than building a better country. The ones chasing clicks, begging for your money, hawking a book they wrote in two weeks, or pretending to “break news” just to juice their algorithm.
Find the people who show up with something real—who speak plainly, stand firmly, and still give a shit, even when it’s hard. Especially when it’s hard. Even if you don’t agree with every single word they say.
That’s what we need right now.
Not more vapid influencers.
Not more brand ambassadors for the system that gave us Trump.
We need fewer grifters in Congress, fewer phony strategists on cable news, and way fewer opportunists who treat politics like a career move instead of a calling.
So whether it’s Lindy Li, Karine Jean-Pierre, or Donald Trump—I’m tired of the grift. I’m tired of the games. I’m tired of watching people torch what little trust we have left in this process just to level up their career or make a quick buck.
Let’s stop rewarding that shit. Let’s back the people who actually show up, who aren’t afraid to piss off both sides if it means telling the truth, and who live their values even when nobody’s watching.
Let’s get back to getting stuff done—and leave the circus to the clowns.
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