Mark Leibovich argues that Donald Trump and Elizabeth Holmes both use constant visibility to create the impression of honesty while avoiding genuine accountability. Trump’s supporters call him a truth-teller, and his administration presents televised Cabinet meetings as evidence of openness, even though his record is marked by lies. His relentless presence can make his version of reality feel unavoidable without making it more truthful. Holmes similarly appears before the cameras as a vulnerable, wronged figure, inviting scrutiny while insisting she has nothing to hide.
The essay applies this comparison to You Can See Everything, a documentary following Holmes and her fiancé, Billy Evans, during the 34 days before she begins an 11-year prison sentence for fraud. Their promise of “radical transparency” weakens as the filmmakers encounter restricted access, managed facts, and efforts to preserve Holmes’s marketable image. Holmes presents wrongdoing as misunderstanding or poor communication, and even denies ever having lied. Leibovich sees the film as showing how displays of emotion and total confidence can persuade audiences to doubt their own judgment. Such performances may hold attention for a time, but relentless exposure eventually becomes repetitive: suspicion replaces fascination, and viewers want the spectacle to end and consequences to begin.
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