Donald Trump? Frank Underwood made him do it

How did America get to Trumpland?

I blame television.

Not Celebrity Apprentice but the political shows that abound on American TV and skirt a fine line between reality and fantasy.

They make Americans believe that anyone - which includes a vice president who has a propensity for profanity and an awful ability to sleep with the wrong man (which includes her trainer, her ex-husband, a corporate tycoon) - can be president.

So in Veep, a narcissistic, morally ambiguous, xenophobic, independently wealthy woman who may as well be Donald Trump with a better haircut and better clothes, keeps trying to become president.

In House of Cards, a narcissistic, morally ambiguous vice president with a very pushy wife, becomes president.

And in Scandal, a narcissistic, morally ambiguous, independently wealthy man, who ends up divorcing the First Lady while in office, is president.

And we're surprised that a large swathe of America has no respect left for Washington or its inhabitants?

Movies, with exceptions like The Candidate (whose last line, "Marvin, what do we do now?" may well be echoed by Donald Trump), have tended to romanticise the Oval Office, sometimes literally in the case of the Michael Douglas and Annette Bening film, The American President, where the said American president falls in love with an environmental lobbyist. Presidents either save the world, like Harrison Ford in Air Force One, or almost die trying, like Jamie Foxx in White House Down.

Even in the one of the earliest political TV series, The West Wing, the president, played so effortlessly by Michael Sheen, is heroic and humane, despite being written by the very cynical Aaron Sorkin (who wrote a moving letter to his 15-year-old about why she and he had to stay in America to fight for their way of life).

But Frank Underwood changed all that. A man who wouldn't stop at anything to get to power, and by speaking to the camera directly, established a direct rapport with the audience. Seems familiar?

Of course even the grotesque man that Donald Trump is he cannot beat Underwood's lack of principles. And never in a million years could the speech-copying Melania Trump be like the icy cold Claire Underwood. Have doubts that Underwood paved the way for Trump? Well how about one of Underwood's favourite quotes? "Power is a lot like real estate. It's all about location, location, location. The closer you are to the source, the higher your property value." Now that's something a real estate tycoon can identify with.

Compared to Underwood, Selina Meyer of Veep seems like a pussy cat (oops, wrong analogy!). Her bumbling oafishness is more Trump than Underwood's carefully calibration. Meyer routinely flubs her speeches, gets nations wrong, manages to disrespect several special interest groups, and alienate half of Washington insiders, but still survives.

As for Scandal's Fitz Grant (played with a sly charm by Tony Goldwyn), he may as well be Trump (without the intellect). A spoiled brat of a man who thinks with the area south of his waist and embarks on an affair with his crisis management chief, played by the silky, pouty Kerry Washington. And if you want even more parallels, his former cuckolded wife, Mellie goes on to make a bid for president.

Of course, that is what makes America great. Anyone can become anything. Even president, if they try hard enough. Wonderful when you have the right man, but extremely dangerous when you don't.

Also read - Why is America so afraid of women?