The vapid Jake Paul is a note-perfect sports hero for these Trumpian times | Ade Khan

It’s not hard to draw a line between Trumpism and the rise of Jake Paul, another boastful celebrity who keeps insisting he is the best until huge segments of the population believe him

Do not dismiss Jake Paul as the butt of the joke. The YouTuber turned boxer earned a reported $40m after for meeting Mike Tyson on Friday night in a highly anticipated fight in Arlington, Texas. More than 60 million households worldwide tuned in to watch the mismatch between 58-year-old Tyson and the 27-year-old Paul, according to Netflix. The fight went the full eight-round distance, but from the opening minutes it was evident Tyson would lose. His legs clung to the canvas while he bit his glove like a child dependent on a thumb, even as Paul’s hands frequently dropped to his waist. Paul did not win the bout because he is a great boxer; he won because Tyson was far too old. This narrative may sound eerily familiar. Donald Trump did not win the presidency because he was an infallible candidate; he won because Biden was too old to run again – and Biden didn’t realize that, much like Tyson, until too many rounds in.

Like Paul, Trump has long been the punchline of jokes. Until he pivoted to his current career, the reality TV star was underestimated due to his cringey persona. But as Americans have learned over the last decade, when Trump says he will do something, he will genuinely try to do it, and as the most recent election results have proven, he may very well succeed. The boastful celebrity who keeps saying he is the best until large segments of the population believe him is a rhetorical strategy no so different than what’s been attempted by Paul during his own pivot from influencer to professional boxer. In 2017, Paul cultivated the fastest-growing channel in YouTube’s history at the time, in part simply by declaring he would and manifesting it into existence.

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