Hello and welcome to Regulator.
Happy New York City mayoral election day to everyone who’s voting, watching from afar, or just here for the memes. And happy 35th day of the federal government shutdown, which, as of today, is tied for the longest shutdown in history. But let’s step back for a second, because there’s something these two seemingly unrelated events have in common.
Back in 2018, two things were constantly in my social media diet: viral videos from WorldStarHipHop.com of people getting into physical fights, and Donald Trump and MAGA influencers instigating Twitter flame wars. Though the content originated from vastly different communities, their most viral posts shared the same qualities: they had to feature a shocking fight, and they had to make their intended audience feel a vicious, vicarious glee about how thoroughly the loser had been beaten up — to the point that no one felt any sympathy toward the loser at all.
Flash forward seven years, and “WorldStar politics,” as I was calling it back then, has not only entered the mainstream, it’s become an established political norm in America.
We still won’t know the results of the hotly contested mayoral race by the time this email’s been sent out, but one thing is for certain. Whether or not he wins, Zohran Mamdani’s skills as a digital communicator — which is kind of like an online influencer, but with much higher societal stakes — did force his primary rival, disgraced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, to adopt what The New York Times called a “fresh social media persona” to fight Mamdani and his army online. Whether or not Cuomo succeeded at his fresh, new social media persona will only be truly answered once all the votes are tallied. But the fact Cuomo himself had to adapt to internet culture in order to get back into the race underscores a fundamental change in elections and politics. It’s no longer enough to outsource their online presence to an army of 20-something-year-olds churning out memes on their behalf: candidates need to prove that they, themselves, are savvy digital communicators.
But it’s not like the 20-something-year-olds won’t lack for work. Although Trump himself is a uniquely singular media figure whose campaigns and presidency have set the standard for how low digital content could go without turning into a complete political liability, his influence has seeped deep into the federal government itself. The MAGA college students and aspiring influencers who watched him run for president in 2016 are now staffing his communications offices across the administration in 2025.
The White House is naturally the hub for all MAGA WorldStar content, posting memes from their official accounts meant to both trigger their enemies and satiate their followers — especially when they tie a generally wholesome or anodyne internet trend to a deeply divisive MAGA talking point. (A very brief list of examples: the ASMR migrant deportation video, the AI Ghibli-fied image of Trump deporting a crying woman, the meltdown over the Halo ICE recruitment ads, press secretary Karoline Leavitt and communications director Steven Cheung saying “your mom” in response to a reporter, and so forth.)
But the MAGA WorldStar ethos has started seeping into the US government’s official internet presence. WhiteHouse.gov, for instance, recently republished a new presidential history that included photos of perennial MAGA targets: Hunter Biden, Bill Clinton hugging Monica Lewinsky, and Barack Obama in a turban. And as of today, several unfunded federal agencies that play a crucial role in American life have homepage banners explicitly blaming Democrats for the government shutdown — from the Department of Justice and the FDA to the State Department and Health and Human Services. Even now, if you were a SNAP recipient worried about food stamps, and you were to go onto the official US Department of Agriculture website to learn the latest, you’d be met with the following:
“Senate Democrats have now voted 13 times to not fund the food stamp program, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Bottom line, the well has run dry. At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 01. We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats. They can continue to hold out for healthcare for illegal aliens and gender mutilation procedures or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive critical nutrition assistance.”
Politicizing a federal agency’s webpage like this would have been unthinkable in all previous administrations — especially under dire conditions such as a federal government shutdown. But under MAGA WorldStar rules, a .gov webpage is still ultimately a webpage that millions of desperate people will visit. And if you’re a president hell-bent on politicizing the entire federal apparatus to crush your enemies, you might as well treat high-traffic websites you own as a free billboard — and add some shock value to it, too.
- “The government shutdown is delaying new gadgets”, Cameron Faulkner: Confusion, lab shutdowns, and changing rules could lead to even more product delays in the future.
- “Alleged U Penn hacker claims they’re in it for money, not ‘primarily “anti-DEI”’”, Elizabeth Lopatto: A figure claiming to be one of the hackers says they plan to sell personal data before making it public.
- “‘Eyes-off driving’ is coming, and we’re so not ready”, Andrew J. Hawkins: Level 3 automation is coming faster than we think. Who will be liable when these systems inevitably make a mistake?
- “Trump administration charges influencer and congressional candidate over ICE protests”, Stevie Bonifeld: Kat Abughazaleh is charged with conspiracy to impede, as well as assaulting or impeding an ICE officer.
- “Meta repents again to Republicans in hearing over moderation, while Google stands its ground”, Lauren Feiner: Meanwhile, Democrats just want to hear from FCC Chair Brendan Carr.
- “Trump says US will restart nuclear weapons testing”, Robert Hart: Something to add to the Nobel Peace Prize submission.
- “A contentious kids safety bill might be getting gutted — and nobody’s happy”, Lauren Feiner: A centerpiece of the Kids Online Safety Act is rumored to be at risk in the new version.
Specifically: my recess. Regulator will return on Tuesday, November 25th, and if you’re jonesing for The Verge’s politics and policy coverage in the meantime, there’s a simple hack for that: Go to this webpage, hit “follow”, and presto, it will be on your Verge dot com homepage!
See you in two weeks, and if the government is open by then, it’ll be a Thanksgiving miracle. In the meantime, please listen to this Nilay Patel public service announcement:
