Trump's $80-Per-Head 'Town Hall' Reveals Democracy's New Stage Show

At yesterday’s Univision-hosted “town hall” with Trump, held in Doral, Florida right adjacent to one of Trump’s golf courses, audience members were assembled by a similar method as the Kamala production. I confirmed with multiple participants that they’d been recruited through a Miami-area casting agency called BH Model Management, which ordinarily recruits “extras” for things like Spanish-language soap operas (“telenovelas”), sitcoms, commercials, and “brand ambassador” deals, as Alexy Mendez, the head of the agency, explained to me.

“I came through an agency, BH Modeling or BH Agency. The best,” one woman told me as she was exiting the Univision studio. “I’m one of the people that they usually call,” she said, having worked as an extra in “telenovelas” for “a long time.” The woman expressed support for Trump and opposition to communism. As I was getting additional information, a security guard approached and said I “can’t be interviewing anybody right now.” When I asked why not, he said “There’s a policy” and did not elaborate.

Before the security guard intervened, I was able to talk to another audience member, José Calderón of Doral, FL, who also said he was recruited through the casting agency. He said that prior to attending, he was “leaning” toward voting for Trump. “Is part of the reason why you wanted to come, because you were supportive of Trump?” I asked him. “Exactly,…  Read more” he said. “That was one of the reasons. I would say the monetary incentive as well. So, those two things.”