Appearing as a guest on Chris Matthews’ Hard Ball, Paul Manafort explained what he thought Donald Trump’s strengths were as a candidate. “It’s the first modern campaign in the social media era,” Manafort explained. “He understood how to use earned media instead of paid media.”

Fine. We know that about Trump: He’s appalling as a political tactic.

But then Manafort went a step farther. It’s not that Trump sees the coverage of his campaign as a free media spectacle — though it is, increasingly — but rather that Trump sees his presidential campaign and the presidency itself as one giant reality show.

Good luck, America.

Watch for yourself. Discussion of the Republican National Convention and Trump’s “reality show” occurs around four and a half minutes in.