A new documentary traces the history of the publication from gore rag to sensational gossip magazine to its central role in the Trump presidency
In February of this year,
Michael Cohen, the president’s personal lawyer, testified before
Congress that he assisted in burying stories of Trump’s affairs. In today’s everything-is-on-fire context, the scene barely registers now, but any long-term vision of
American democracy would consider it remarkable: the personal lawyer to the president of the
United States, a former reality TV star ensnared by campaign finance laws after paying former
Playboy models for their silence in the 2016 presidential election. The mind-boggling convergence of politics and celebrity, soap opera and political formality, public and private, money and low-brow titillation would seem unprecedented – that is, unless you’ve followed the story of the paper involved in suppressing stories of Trump’s affairs: the National Enquirer, a gore rag turned sensationalistic newsstand staple which has long been at the forefront, for better or for worse, of America’s celebrification of news.
Related: 'She's an unreliable narrator': Lauren Greenfield on her Imelda Marcos documentary