The romantic comedy by Rufián and Giró

Tuesday night, on Cara al show on La Sexta, Marc Giró interviewed Gabriel Rufián. The difference in communication pace between the two caused a certain expectation. It was necessary to see how Giró's machine-gun delivery would fit against the politician's discursive parsimony. But they soon achieved an apparently spontaneous harmony. The presenter lowered his pace and Rufián increased his. To vary, the spicy comments served to foster a connection. The program recovered an old interview on El intermedio where the ERC deputy confessed to having had an erotic dream about Marc Giró. The anecdote served as the perfect excuse to play at building sexual tension between the two. Weeks ago, Rufián stated that he preferred filling tiktoks rather than libraries. It was a way of admitting that politics no longer circulates from intellectuality but from emotionality and spectacle. And, consistent with his thesis, he gave his all. He explained that he pees sitting down and that a fan took a photo of him on the toilet. He confessed that he was an admirer of David Bisbal and Marta Sánchez. He admitted that he never sleeps on the AVE because he is afraid of being photographed and becoming a meme. He explained that he wears red underwear because it brings him luck and that he sleeps naked. He is an expert at cooking potato omelets in competitions and is methodical in his facial routine. At night he puts on a mask and during the day a little makeup to look better. When flirting with Giró, he let him know that he had never had a homosexual relationship. Nevertheless, Rufián stimulated the fantasy of a romantic comedy between the two of them. A violinist even appeared to create a more sensual atmosphere, and they said goodbye with a kiss on the lips, with more impetus from the politician than from the presenter. It was an erotic-festive interview typical of a late night. In this context, the politician abandons his role as an institutional representative to become a character. Rufián is a master at this. It is a spectacle to enhance charisma, presenting himself as likeable and approachable at a very decisive point in his career. It is legitimate to wonder if the same interview could be conducted with a politician from the right – or far-right – and if the public would perceive it in the same way. At what moments do we humanize political leaders and at what moments do we whitewash them. Likeability, entertainment, and slightly risqué anecdotes deactivate the viewer's critical gaze. Rufián was not innocent either. He tried to shed his label as a heterobasic man to deconstruct his masculinity and make it contemporary and sensitive. Everything is useful when recruiting followers. At a time when television is increasingly designed to be promoted through viral clips, the program was a factory of moments to fill tiktoks.