A nation of Trumpster Fire watchers will be glued to our screens Thursday morning, in anticipation of bombshell revelations from former FBI director James Comey’s testimony to Congress. CNN’s countdown started with three days to go and on Sunday switched to an actual clock tick-tick-ticking down the anxious hours and minutes.
On Wednesday morning Bloomberg reported that the finance world will be watching for anything that could upset the market, with one media analyst predicting a loss in labor productivity for Thursday. Many will stream the hearing, available for free online from multiple networks—and on Twitter. They’ll cue it up on their work computers, switching tabs when the boss walks by, or on smartphones hidden in their laps.
Jaded young professionals who enjoy day-drinking and political theatre—which includes apparently everyone in Washington under the age of 35—will be tempted to abandoned their posts for watch parties: At least five D.C. bars are opening their doors early (the hearing starts at 10:00 a.m.) and offering cocktails with doomy names like “the Last Word” and “Drop the Bomb.” Shaw’s Tavern advertised its “Comey Hearing Covfefe” party first (with a $5 Stoli shot special) but the Union Pub on Capitol Hill one-upped them by announcing that they’ll open at 9:30 and buy a round on the house every time Trump tweets. Robert Costa reported Tuesday from White House sources the president won’t put down his phone and might even live tweet Comey’s testimony.
But as tempting as it is to mock the drunken nerds in our nation’s capital, the truth is that live TV events have always had the palliative effect of knitting together Americans from all walks of life. We step out of our little workaday worlds and tune in for the moon landing, or the royal wedding, or the congressional hearing that might undo a presidency. Remember, congressional hearings have drawn big audiences before: Anita Hill’s testimony and the Watergate hearings drew tens of millions, Nixon’s resignation more than a hundred million. In 1987, 40 million people watched Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North’s testimony during the Iran-Contra scandal. (That’s half the crowd the first Trump-Clinton debate drew, but far more than watched The Apprentice‘s top episode.)
Trump’s obsession with TV ratings and his concern that James Comey’s fame surpasses his own make Thursday morning especially promising, whether or not any damning, indictable details arise. Regardless of the outcome, we’ll all be gifted another of those precious, shared moments.
Because one thing is for sure: It’ll be the classiest congressional testimony. Ever.
