Hannity could press the president to do and say things that would, retold on the news, boost Hannity’s ratings—and, as usually happened, almost everyone else’s. A return in Trump’s tweets to the Wall would often be Hannity’s doing. This was old-fashioned politics, of course, a politician behaving in a way that would please his constituents. But this other angle—a television host directing the president to do whatever might most compel a television audience—took the game a big step further.
