Jefferson: Can we get back to politics?
Madison: Please?
Jefferson: Yo.
Every political drama seems to get compared to Game of Thrones. Across the globe, every power struggle brings out a reference to the show. Just this month, I’ve run across stories where the political situation in Malaysia, Spain, and Ireland brought out comparisons. And that’s just the recent stuff. The UK elections last year were filled with it. Israel’s Prime Minister openly referenced the production during his own election, especially when it looked like he might lose. And as a resident of the Nation’s Capital, I can tell you the show has Washington in its pocket. There’s a reason that at last year’s White House Correspondent’s Dinner, Luther the Anger Translator’s line referencing Clinton’s march to the democratic nomination as “Khaleesi is coming to Westeros” got the longest and loudest positive crowd reaction, and it wasn’t because the room was overwhelmingly for Hillary.
With the continuing results of the 2016 primaries signalling we’ve entered our first post-reality election, and things taking a turn for something that even Littlefinger and Varys would scoff at as unbelievable, the Game of Thrones references are only just beginning. In a timely moment of comedy, the Australian editor Huw Parkinson, known for his send ups of local pols such as Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on the Sunday morning political program Insiders, has released a mash up that puts former reality star and real life Voldemort counterpart Donald Trump smack dab in the middle of the Westerosi and Essos political scene. As the blurb for the video reads: “Armed with a Valyrian steel sword named Deal-Maker, Donald Trump embarks on a quest through Westeros to take care its border policies.”
Clearly, Varys and Littlefinger are totally scoffing at this nonsense. Daenerys, for her part, is appalled. As for Trump’s plans to build a Wall, Jon Snow knows just how ineffective those things can be, once the long cold night shows up. personally though, I’m not sure I want to see Trump as a White Walker. Then he’ll never go away.
(This article was originally published on February 21, 2016.)