A recent study published in PNAS Nexus provides evidence that politicians who frequently use personal insults gain massive media attention but fail to achieve better legislative or electoral success than their more policy-focused peers. This suggests a shift in political strategy where some lawmakers prioritize national visibility and celebrity status over traditional lawmaking duties. These findings highlight a growing trend in American politics where the pursuit of media spotlight sustains a toxic form of public discourse. Surveys consistently indicate that American voters dislike political incivility and prefer lawmakers to focus on substantive policy debates. Despite this clear public preference, hostile rhetoric involving name-calling and character attacks appears to be rising in American politics. “Wherever we look—in the news media, social media, even floor debate in Congress—it seems that at least some politicians have become much more insulting in what they say,” said study author Marc S. Jacob, an assistant professor at the University of Notre Dame. “These personal attacks have nothing to do with substantive policy debate and undermine substantive discussions that we need to …