“Transparency is going to be important for people to understand what’s going on and what’s not going on,” McGraw said.
Partway through answering questions Sunday during an immigration enforcement blitz in Chicago, a man who appeared to be in federal custody briefly stopped talking when he recognized the man with the Texas accent asking the questions.
For many others, however, granting largely unrestricted access to a well-known television personality during high-stakes law enforcement encounters raises questions about the propriety of the operation. It also underscores the extent to which Trump — who parlayed his turn as a reality TV star into a political career powered by harsh rhetoric on illegal immigration — relies on spectacle and showmanship to convey his message.
“We generally tried to stay out of the media’s attention … for a host of reasons,” said the former official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized by his current employer to speak to the press.
During the exchange with the man who recognized McGraw as “Dr. Phil,” the TV personality continued asking questions of the man even after he mentions wanting to speak to a lawyer. The clip posted to McGraw’s account on X, the social media platform formerly called Twitter, showed the man being questioned stood with his hands behind his back next to a law enforcement official.
A representative of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois also raised questions about the exchange. “Donald Trump is the greatest marketer, brander and self-promoter in history. … I wouldn’t take that away from him,” Axelrod said. “But the spectacle of Dr. Phil on ICE raids is really … kind of a cheap reality show thing and detracts from the gravity and the seriousness of what this should be.”
And while McGraw told the Tribune his goal was to document the “factual” and “actual,” there’s an array of unanswered questions in today’s fragmented media landscape about “what types of journalistic ethics are being followed here,” Coles said. Nubia Willman, former deputy chief of staff and current chief programs officer at Latinos Progresando, said she imagines “this second round, the federal administration will continue to look for ways to antagonize and scare Chicagoans in an attempt to deepen divides. Adding a TV personality to the mix is likely the first of many questionable decisions we will see as they attempt to vilify immigrants.
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