The MAGA-Coded Reality TV Villain With Surprisingly Good Politics
Rob Rausch used his good looks and Southern charm to triumph on 'The Traitors.' Then he surprised everyone by wearing an ICE OUT pin.
Can you be good at reality TV and have decent politics?
It’s a question that’s as relevant as it’s ever been, a year into Donald Trump’s second term in the White House. A guy who convinced millions of Americans he was a visionary leader by pretending to be one on The Apprentice, Trump also appointed numerous TV personalities to key roles in his administration, including Real World lumberjack-turned-Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy.
The president has long since normalized the idea that reality TV stardom can be a credible path to a career in politics and inspired other conservatives to follow in his footsteps (e.g., Spencer Pratt, the former Hills star who is running for mayor of Los Angeles).
Seemingly attached to the quaint notion that politicians should be vaguely qualified for their jobs, Democrats have yet to turn to reality TV for the next generation of political talent. But when and if they do, might I suggest they recruit Rob Rausch?
Last week, the twenty-seven-year-old snake handler from Alabama won $220,800 in the Season 4 finale of The Traitors after taking advantage of his good looks and Southern charm to play a dazzlingly perfect game.
The next day, he was spotted in New York City wearing an ICE OUT pin — an image that sent shockwaves through the Traitors fandom. A proud farm boy with a penchant for wearing overalls over a bare chest, Rausch does not exactly scream “woke”; if anything, as a Gen Z white guy from the Deep South, he is MAGA-coded.
And yet there he was, in the hottest accessory of the season for progressive celebrities.
As Rausch explained to GQ, “I don’t fuck with ICE. I couldn’t sleep at night not supporting my immigrant brothers and sisters. It’s one thing to enforce the law, it’s another thing to dehumanize people and break up families.”
It was a simple, straightforward message delivered by the man who’d just delivered one of the most cunningly brilliant performances in reality TV history.
No one in the history of The Traitors has played better than Rausch, who managed to almost completely avoid suspicion throughout his run on the show.
In the hit Peacock series, twenty or so marginally famous people hole up in a Scottish castle, compete in elaborate challenges, and try to suss out the traitors in their midst (while trying not to get “murdered” by said traitors). Hosted by a knowingly over-the-top Alan Cumming, the show is one part Survivor, one part Agatha Christie murder mystery — and is every bit as entertaining as that sounds.
Rausch, who previously appeared on the dating show Love Island USA, was designated as a traitor from the beginning, along with two former Real Housewives stars, Lisa Rinna (Beverly Hills) and Candiace Dillard Bassett.
From day one in the castle, it was clear to viewers at home that Rausch, as the old reality TV adage goes, wasn’t there to make friends. But he was also very good at making everyone in the castle believe that he was. Even as he repeatedly stabbed his fellow traitors in the back, Rausch was able to fly under the radar.
Though obviously intelligent, he never rubbed it in anyone’s face. (Rausch earned my undying admiration when he corrected Michael Rappaport, the actor whose obnoxious antics and poor table manners marred the season’s first few episodes, on the meaning of the word “commiserate.”) He outwitted a cast that included veterans of strategy-intensive shows like Survivor and Big Brother, the host of Top Chef, two Olympic athletes, and Travis Kelce’s mom. In other words: people who understand how to play games on TV.
By the time last week’s finale rolled around, it seemed inevitable that Rausch was going to win. Yet the episode was full of dramatic twists and shocking betrayals. In a moment that will surely be memed for the rest of time, Rausch revealed to Maura Higgins, his best friend on the show, that he had been a traitor all along — even though he had pinky promised her that he wasn’t.
“You’re never gonna have a girlfriend after this,” she replied, visibly stunned. “You’re such a good liar.”
Higgins, a Love Island alum known for her enormous hats, had repeatedly talked about her difficulty trusting men. But don’t feel too badly for her: this week, to make it up to Higgins, Rausch bought her a Birkin bag.)
Excelling at The Traitors requires an ability to win the trust of others while avoiding suspicion. For this reason, the show is also an illuminating case-study in unconscious bias. (There’s a depressing tendency for Black women to get voted off early.)
There’s no doubt Rausch’s victory, though well-earned, was also aided by the fact that he’s an unusually attractive good ol’ boy with White Walker blue eyes, a perfect ski jump nose, and a feathery swoosh of dark hair that would make an Osmond brother jealous.
Rinna, the traitor he betrayed, recently argued that Rausch’s blinding hotness protected him from detection.
“He’s so good looking that people are too afraid to look at him for very long,” she said on TikTok.
This charisma will serve Rausch well no matter what he does next. Like the true ally he is, he’s already voicing erotic audiobooks (“I did it for the girls and the gays,” he said) and has expressed interest in acting (might I suggest a role in Heated Rivalry Season 2?). There’s no indication Rausch has any political ambitions, but he could be a formidable candidate in a state that has elected (far less intelligent) celebrities before. And by taking a public stance against ICE the day after clinching victory on The Traitors, Rausch has shown that he’s willing to use the fame he won by being a very handsome white guy for good.
Meredith Blake is the culture columnist for The Contrarian
I don't watch reality TV shows in any way, shape or manner. But that said, politics, particularly American politics, is the only field where lack of experience and knowledge is actually a benefit.
How'd you like to take a trip in an airliner piloted by someone who, after engine start, came on the intercom and said, with pride "good morning folks, this is your captain speaking. For the record, I've never piloted an airliner before. In fact I've never flown anything bigger than a 4-seat Cessna." Or worse yet--"I've never even been inside an airplane before"
Or how about having surgery on your brain done by someone who tells you "I've never done brain surgery before"?
The problem with politics is what I call "the baseball syndrome". The rules of baseball are pretty straightforward, and any kid can play. But if you do it for a living you'll learn quickly that it's very hard, and is anything but child's play.
Politics is similar to baseball in that it only LOOKS easy!
And let's not forget that for most of their adult lives, our 3 greatest presidents (Lincoln, FDR and Washington), were essentially professional politicians
It’s like the Beverly hillbillies all over again. Love your commentary. Bubblin’ crude, Texas tea, Jed get yer gun, Ellie Mae where’s your dress, jethro get out of that cement pond.