The New Olympics: Candidates Vie for Gold Based Entirely on Style Points In American Politics

As the Winter Olympics reach their climax, a fascinating competition is unfolding in U.S. Democratic politics. From Eric Swalwell to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, candidates are testing the proposition that they can win gold solely on style alone.

Unlike free-style skating, where competitors must accomplish technical elements like jumps and spins, American politics has become only a competition of style as politicians vie to outdo each other in rage rhetoric or superficial gestures.

That was most evident in Rep. Eric Swalwell’s campaign for governor of California. One of the least accomplished members of Congress, Swalwell is running for the state’s highest office despite missing 95 votes in 2025. He was outvoted by Rep. Raul Grijalva, who died in March 2025.

It does not matter that Swalwell expects California voters to give him a new job after blowing off his old one. Why? Because he feeds a rage addiction on the left.

Rep. Eric Swalwell has promised, if elected governor, he will take away the driver’s licenses of ICE officers, bar them from employment, and hound them incessantly to thrill irate lawyers.

It does not matter that he could not deliver on these pledges. He is not trying to make the jump; he is just trying to get the style points.

Then there is Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.), who reportedly has aspirations for either the White House or the Senate. Ocasio-Cortez went to Munich to discuss foreign relations. Used to a fawning American press that repeats soundbites, Ocasio-Cortez had a meltdown when asked a predictable question on Taiwan. She immediately disassembled into a stream of incomprehensible babble: “Um, you know, I think that this is such a, you know, I think that this is a um — this is, of course, a, um, very long-standing, um, policy of the United States. And I think what we are hoping for is that we want to make sure that we never get to that point, and we want to make sure that we are moving in all of our economic research and our global positions to avoid any such confrontation — and for that question to even arise.”

It did not matter. Many on the left immediately defended her. Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright praised her and declared “she sticks her head up. They cannot find an answer or solution to her.” Actually, few could find any answer from her.

Basil Smikle, a strategist who served as the executive director of the New York State Democratic Party, suggested that it does not matter if no one could understand her: “AOC is playing for a different generation, for a younger generation of Democrat, the younger generation of politicians.”

In other words, turn the sound off and count the style points.

Then there is California Gavin Newsom, who also appeared in Munich to advance his campaign for president. Newsom wants to be president after running his state into the ground, with towering debt and an exodus of taxpayers. Newsom has perfected style over substance.

Recently, Newsom posted a bizarre video boasting of the great success of his infamous high-speed “train to nowhere.” Despite not laying a single yard of track after burning $12 billion, Newsom showed a diesel freight train on a conventional track to create the appearance of a working railroad.

Voters approved a $9.95 billion bond issue in 2008. Even at a fraction of the original length, it is now projected to exceed $128 billion and could ultimately cost a billion dollars per mile.

It does not matter. Newsom looked marvelous in front of a diesel on a different track. Not jumps, just style.

It is all part of our post-truth environment, and this is obviously not simply a phenomenon on the left.

Notably, one of the things that many on the left detest most about Trump is his style. Trump insults, threatens, and saber-rattles to get concessions. Many object to his rhetoric and attacks, including those directed at our closest allies or, most recently, Supreme Court justices. “Being presidential” is often a matter of style with citizens expecting our leaders to set a model for civility and respect.

Such objections to style can be a barrier to scoring “technical point” successes in foreign relations and the economy.

Our politics have become so stylized that many voters and viewers have no expectation of substance. Take the most recent hoax perpetrated by Stephen Colbert and Democratic Texas Senatorial candidate James Talarico. Colbert had another self-aggrandizing moment on his CBS Late Show, claiming he was prevented from airing an interview with Talarico because CBS caved to pressure from the Trump Administration and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair, Brendan Carr. In another faux Spartacus moment on the left, Colbert thrilled the audience by saying he aired it on YouTube anyway and treated CBS’s legal guidance as dog poop on air.

As usual, the media took it from there and breathlessly repeated the false story. It was so outrageously false that CBS took the rare move of issuing a public statement saying that it was completely untrue. It explained that CBS lawyers did not bar the interview but noted that, under equal-time policies, Colbert might be required to give the other two candidates, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett, the same opportunity.

For his part, Carr held a press conference that debunked Colbert’s claim and said that neither he nor the FCC had even heard of the interview until they were accused on the program.

Again, it did not matter. Talarico raised millions after he claimed that he was being silenced by the Trump Administration and shot up in the polls the day before the start of early voting in the Democratic primary. He continued to claim that he is the target of “the most powerful politicians in the Trump administration and the most powerful corporate media executives.”

What was so impressive was Colbert’s open effort to manufacture a false claim. Colbert has turned his show into an exclusive space for the Democratic establishment. Despite losing revenue and ratings, he has portrayed himself as a victim of the corporation that is continuing to subsidize his overtly political programming. In this case, the Democratic establishment has decided to block Crockett and push Talarico. That task was given to Colbert, who would now create the buzz needed to put him over the top. Colbert had previously had Crockett on to throw profanities and insults at Trump, but now she had to go.

The problem is that such interviews just before voting can trigger equal time requirements. All Colbert had to do was give Crockett equal time. That was not what the Democratic establishment wanted. They want Crockett out, and Talarico inflated to super-hero size through another manufactured hoax.

So, Colbert and Talarico skated onto the ice and looked marvelous with only one spin: a false claim of censorship. They then grabbed another gold for style in American politics.

Jonathan Turley is a law professor and author of the New York Times bestseller “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”