Manufacturing political gaffes: how mainstream media discourses implicate political authenticity

Gaffes are increasingly common in political discourse and dominate media coverage. Typically, gaffes are defined as mistakes that show something authentic about the politician. I argue, however, that gaffes are neither mistakes nor authentic. Gaffes are discourses that promote political imaging. While inspired by certain moments, a closer look shows that many things labeled gaffes are not mistakes. Even when these moments are deemed authentic, these discourses argue that politicians should hide their true selves from the public. Using nine examples of well-known political gaffes inspired by speech, hot mic incidents and photo ops, I argue that these mainstream media discourses are less about politicians than they are about the public. Gaffe discourses are demophobic because they depict the public as politically unsophisticated.