In the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit, the word "neta" means politician; for actor, the word "abhi" is prefixed before "neta" to make it "abhineta."  Acting or performing is inextricably linked with politics.

The former governor of New York, Mario Cuomo, rightly observed that politicians campaign in poetry but govern in prose.  To deliver this poetry, all politicians are required to be performers on stage and in every medium possible.

There is the serious side during one-to-one interviews.  There are the slightly relaxed side on the campaign trail and the jovial side during appearances on "comedy shows."

You would hope the performance would be restricted to merely projecting who they are and not pretending who they are not.  Alas, modern politics seems to be littered with pretenders, not performers.

Tucker Carlson provided examples of these pretenders yesterday.

He began with Justin J. Pearson, the insurrectionist at the Tennessee State House.  Tucker revealed that back in 2016, Pearson was an earnest young student studying at Bowdoin, an expensive college predominantly attended by Caucasian students (12-minute video clip).

Tucker showed a video of Pearson campaigning for college student body president and promising to be a uniting force.  His clean-shaven buzz cut look, his conduct, and his manner of speaking made him sound like a stereotypical preppy white college student.   

Tucker then showed Pearson's recent appearance on the floor of the Tennessee State House, where he seemed to have undergone a radical change.  He sports an afro hairstyle and facial hair.  In his style of speaking, he seemed to be doing an impression of MLK.

Next was the princess of pretenders, AOC, who Carlson reminded grew up in an all-White suburb as the daughter of the president of an architectural firm.

Tucker showed AOC playing not one, but two roles on separate occasions.  First was a clip of AOC at Sharpton's own National Action Network, where AOC claimed, "I'm proud to be a bartender.  Ain't nothing wrong with that."

Next was a video of AOC seemingly doing a caricature of Puerto Rican street patois — "All right, all right, listen.  Listen, OK." — when confronted by protestors in her constituency.   

Tucker reminded everyone that Obama may have been a pioneer in the field of pretender politicians.

Obama pretended to be an "African-American Baptist pastor from Chicago with deep roots in Mississippi" while campaigning for the midterms last year.

A few months later, in December, Obama spoke in his normal accent. 

It would be unfair to credit Obama for this inglorious practice; Hillary was doing this much before.

Tucker showed a clip of Hillary in 2007, sounding like a "politically aware gospel singer from the segregated South."

In fact, Hillary has played many parts throughout her long career (2-minute video clip).

Next Tucker showed Joe Biden doing an impression of MLK.  (Considering that Joe Biden can no longer even do an impression of Joe Biden, this was a train wreck that is hard to watch).

In the clip, Biden is seen saying the following:

A senator from Florida going after Medicare and Social Security? I tell you what I know or as they say, I don't know where y'all been. Hot damn, boy.

"Hot damn, boy" is Biden's version of a Black man.

Next was America's foremost word salad chef, Kamala Harris, who is the daughter of a Jamaican college professor and an Indian college professor who grew up in Canada, in Montreal, Quebec. 

Tucker showed a clip of Harris doing an impression of Inspector Cousteau when she traveled to France (2-minute video clip).

During her recent trip to Tennessee, where state legislators were expelled from the Legislature for attempting an insurrection, Kamala delivered a speech where she sounded like a Black preacher.

Kamala in Tennessee yelling “You don’t silence people! You don’t stifle people!”

If only they would practice what they preach.

It would be great if she had that same energy about conservatives who were/are silenced for years.

Hypocrisy is a democrat’s middle name. pic.twitter.com/u7XylWwHlJ

— suzy (@Suzy_1776) April 8, 2023

Tucker quipped that "it's too bad the Ukrainian accent is so hard to master because a lot of these people would already have transitioned into refugees from Kyiv."

So what does one make of these pretenders and why are they doing it? 

Woody Allen's mockumentary, Zelig (1983), depicted Leonard Zelig, yearning to fit in and be liked by all.  This desire can result in physical manifestations as the body unwittingly takes on the characteristics of people around you.  But in Zelig's case, the transition was involuntary (6-minute video clip).

Here, too, part of the goal behind pretense is to fit in and pander to the audience before them.  But it can also be seen as an insult to the audiences — a presumption that the Black audience will be impressed by the attempt at a Black accent or be duped into thinking that the accent is real.

It is said that frauds and con artists prefer to hide behind a disguise to conceal their deceit.  Perhaps this too plays a part in the pretense.

The likes of Obama, Hillary, AOC, and others not only have nothing in common with their non-white audience, but probably have contempt for them.  Perhaps the act is an attempt to conceal their disdain for the working class.

There is another advantage of putting on an act.

For the likes of AOC, Kamala, Obama, and Justin J. Pearson, it enables them to claim to be from oppressed minority groups.  We know that victimhood ranks much higher than achievement in today's era.  As long as they can pretend to be oppressed Blacks or Latinos, they can claim to be victims of discrimination and White supremacy, which enables myriad lucrative opportunities.  It also enables power without accountability; they do as they please when questioned or challenged, and they all claim to be victims of racism.

AOC took the act to a different level.

She is like a "method" actor from the Stanislavskian school of acting.  The performer inhabits the character by identifying with, understanding, and experiencing a character's inner motivation and emotion.

She pretends to be a socialist who despises capitalism and cares deeply for the working class.  A real socialist would quit her life of luxury and spend all her time in slums in an effort to uplift the poorest of people.

Not AOC.

AOC willingly accepts improper gifts such as the expensive tickets for the 2021 Met Gala, where she wore her notorious "Tax the Rich" dress.

She cannot stop complaining that the rich should pay their fair share, but it was recently revealed that she attempted to fleece small businesses by conveniently forgetting to pay for services during her appearance at the Met gala.

AOC's entire career in politics is an act, one that she auditioned for.

This is what makes President Trump a rare politician.

He is, even his worst critics will admit, completely authentic; no matter where he goes, his appearance and manner of speaking are identical.  In fact, in his social media posts, he reveals exactly what is on his mind without hesitation.

It shows a man comfortable in his skin.

What is really sad is that pretenders such as AOC, Hillary, Kamala, and Obama continue to be prominent names in politics despite their amateur theatrics.

AOC will never, ever lose an election in New York City.

Will this mad act ever end?

Photo credit: YouTube screen grab.