Meghan Markle faces her worst criticism yet as she’s compared to… Donald Trump?
Meghan Markle has been called many things and criticized by many people, and she’s probably still never heard words quite as hurtful as those said by PR expert Doug Eldridge in a conversation with Fox News Digital. The so-called “Duchess of Difficult” is a magnet for anti-fans, and even most of them have steered clear of this ultimate put-down.
Nobody in their right mind would ever want to be described as being like Donald Trump, but unfortunately for Meghan, that’s exactly what’s happened. In an expansive Fox News Digital interview, Eldridge discusses the PR implications of Meghan’s lifestyle show, With Love, Meghan, and why it might not be landing with viewers quite the way she intended.
With Love, Meghan has proven to be a polarizing show. While it does have its fans, it certainly has its detractors, too. Meghan has been described as “inauthentic” multiple times — including by her own father, Thomas Markle — and doesn’t manage to shake that allegation from Doug Eldridge either.
Authenticity is like humidity — you can’t see it, but you can walk in a room and feel it. It’s also critical for what Markle is trying to accomplish. Authenticity fosters relatability, which in turn creates likability, all of which are needed for marketability.
Eldridge suggests that Markle’s lack of authenticity means she’s failing connect with her audience, which isn’t helped by her on-camera approach either — Meghan “appears guarded most of the time,” he says, which can be “challenging for a viewer to bond with.” All of this means, in Eldridge’s view, that With Love, Meghan is unlikely to be a smash hit, as it’s going to fail to connect with new audiences. This assessment matches that of another PR expert, Renae Smith, who suggests that appealing to a core audience is likely Meghan’s goal, anyway.
Still, this does make it tricky for the duchess because she’s launching a lifestyle brand off the back of the show, American Riviera Orchards. Eldridge notes that “this has become an increasingly crowded space” where “likability and charisma” are more important than other things which Meghan may be more comfortable with. These are the things that Meghan struggles with outside of her core fanbase, as there are legions of people who consider the duchess to be inauthentic, fake, unlikable and so on to a point where the only engagement they want with her is via trolling.
Eldridge likens the situation to that of Trump and his opponent, Kamala Harris, during the last presidential election.
At this point, Markle is similar to both candidates who ran in the last presidential election. They were loved by their core demos and despised by those outside of it, which means it really came down to a numbers game.
While it’s certainly not nice to be compared to Trump, it feels like this assessment has legs. Meghan does have fans, and they are incredibly interested in what she does, whether it’s her show, her brand, or the odd appearance at an event. The trouble for her is, are her fans enough to sustain her career? It doesn’t look like Netflix thinks so, but there’s always a chance that season 2 knocks it out of the park and that American Riviera Orchards does extremely well.
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