Veep is an American satirical political comedy series. It is an HBO production. The series was created by Armando Iannucci and presents the personal life and political career of Selina Meyer (played by the outstanding Julia Louis-Dreyfus), who is depicted as Vice President, and later President, of the United States. On the day of Joe Biden's announcement of his resignation from seeking re-election, HBO Max placed the series in the main offers on its app. Although I watched it a few years ago, the current events in US politics made me watch the series again. And I do not regret it – because it is really good and at the same time funny.
This article will not be a review of the series. Nevertheless, comparing recent political events with the plot of Veep leads to some uncanny parallels.
First, however, we need to start with reality. The 2024 US presidential election was shaping up to be really… boring. Biden and Trump were supposed to face off – both of them met virtually no opposition in the primaries in their parties. It was supposed to be a repeat of 2020, only with a different final result. Due to Biden's deteriorating psychophysical condition (many indicate progressive dementia), Trump had the prospect of an easy victory.
The teams of both candidates made a strange move – they agreed to a debate between the two candidates in early July – that is, before the conventions of both parties, so when they were not yet officially candidates. It was a debate on the scale of the “famous” (ie made famous by the American media) Kennedy-Nixon debate in 1960. At that time, Nixon was leading in the polls, but after a poor performance in the debate, Nixon's support ultimately fell and Kennedy won the election. Here, Biden also did badly. It seems to me – although I have no evidence for this – that the Democrats may have deliberately agreed to this debate, precisely so that Biden would embarrass himself and leave the race. And then, one imagines, the Democrats could replace him with another, younger candidate. So far, Donald Trump's entire campaign has focused on attacking Biden on the grounds of age and dementia, which is quite funny because Trump is 78 and Biden is 82.
Biden's resignation and replacement with Kamala Haris, the current vice president, immediately caused the assassination attempt to lose its significance
This debate has shown who really rules the United States… and it certainly isn’t the politicians elected by the people. The real power lies with the capitalists and the media that is owned by these capitalists. And of course, this sounds like a platitude or a truism coming from a self-claimed communist like me… but here it is plain to see. Up until the mentioned debate, the media denied Biden’s mental state. They defended him and sometimes openly called Trump a “fascist” (which he is) and a “threat” (which he is, too…). Biden, on the other hand, was completely protected by the liberal media, while conservative media criticised him, of course.
After the debate, this changed. Even pro-Democratic media began criticising Biden and emphasising that he was no longer fit to be president. However, this did not convince Biden to drop his re-election bid. The situation changed when the critics were joined by donors (capitalists and celebrities) – led by actor George Clooney – who threatened to withdraw campaign funds if Biden remained in the race. After threats to lose funding, Nancy Pelosi, the de facto leader of the Democrats and an ally of Obama and Clinton, went to Biden. A few days after this conversation, Biden finally dropped his re-election bid on July 21.
In the time between the debate and Biden's resignation, there was a failed – in my opinion, dubious – assassination attempt on Trump. But, incredibly, the assassination attempt was forgotten after a few days. Usually, such cases give the candidate a sure victory. Biden's resignation and replacement with Kamala Haris, the current vice president, immediately caused the assassination attempt to lose its significance.
And here, once again, the role of media and capital in capitalist politics is shown. Biden was losing in the polls to Trump – even when the media was favourable to him before the debate. As soon as Kamala Harris gained support, the media immediately changed the narrative. They went into a kind of enthusiastic frenzy, presenting her - despite her being known for her frequent gaffes and low intelligence – as a kind of "defender of democracy." This caused her to start surpassing Donald Trump in the polls. Of course, there is still a long way to the election – three full months – and a lot can change between now and then. And all of what has transpired so far does not automatically mean that Kamala Harris will win, but there is a chance.
Let us return to the initial considerations and the series, Veep.
Now, in the USA, the real candidate for president is the vice president, who does not quite cope with public statements and her image. But this series, despite being satire, also provides insight into what really shapes US politics. After all, it is a country that considers itself a "democratic role model." In one scene of the series, during the campaign, Selina is informed that a donor has donated $30,000 to the campaign and replies "I'll call him to thank him." Then she hears that she received $200 from someone else, and she comments "that's not enough for a phone call - send him a campaign flyer as a thank you."
In the series Veep, we can also see how business influences legislation through lobbyists. There is also a remarkable scene of a conversation between the owner of private prisons and a congressman. He tells the legislator that in exchange for campaign money he expects stricter drug regulations so that more people will go to his private prisons and his business will flourish.
The conclusion of this whole argument is that if you watch this series carefully, you will see a picture of the political reality - not only of the USA but of all capitalist countries. The irony of fate is incredibly funny: Selina May... I mean Kamala Harris is currently running a presidential campaign. We have a series in real life. And just like in the series, the people have no influence on the plot.
The plot in this election is set by the media and American capitalists.