Bangladesh, June 18 -- In 2016, during the first Trump campaign, I wrote an article asking whether American democracy could survive the reduction of politics to entertainment. At the time, the question seemed exaggerated to some readers. Politics had always contained theatrical elements. Presidents cultivated images. Campaigns relied on slogans and symbolism. The boundary between politics and spectacle was hardly new.

Yet something different appeared to be emerging. Entertainment was no longer merely a tool of politics. Politics itself was becoming a branch of entertainment. A decade later, the consequences are increasingly difficult to ignore.

Recently, Donald Trump referred to immigrants using imagery drawn from science fiction, playi...