Much of what’s going on also reflects cynicism about the status quo. “It is appalling that we are a country that has descended into a complete disregard for expertise,” said Michael Specter, the author of “Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet and Threatens Our Lives.” “But is this a rejection of reality or a rejection of politics? To argue that actual politicians are useless, so let’s try something else, is not completely insane.”

Indeed it’s not. On top of which, many experiences other than lower-level government work can be useful, as Michael Bloomberg’s New York mayoralty and Ronald Reagan’s California governorship show. I’d argue that Winfrey now has a sturdier claim on office than Reagan did when he ran for governor. But she would be aiming straight for the presidency. That’s a bit much, as Trump has amply demonstrated.

Plenty of Democrats accused Nixon of similar overreach. Christine Quinn, the former speaker of the New York City Council, was among them. In a bizarrely worded comment to The New York Post, she called Nixon an “unqualified lesbian” who had failed to support her, a “qualified lesbian,” when she ran for mayor in 2013. Quinn later apologized for bringing sexual orientation into the discussion, but she isn’t backing down from her assessment that Nixon’s accomplishments as an actress and dedication as an activist aren’t adequate credentials. Nor should she.

“It’s as if I decided I wanted to be an actor,” Quinn told me. “I speak in public. I get my picture taken. I need to lose a little weight, but aside from that, why can’t I do this? Because I can’t. The years I might have spent developing skills in that area, I spent developing other skills.”

Nichols, a professor of national security affairs at the Naval War College in Rhode Island, said that the downgrading of experience and devaluing of expertise can be explained partly by the internet, which allows people to assemble their own preferred information and affords them the delusion of omniscience.

The narcissism of our era also comes into play, he said. Feelings have been accorded as much currency as facts. No one can claim more or better feelings than anybody else. And so Nixon’s empathy as a mother and frustration as a subway rider, to name two themes in her video, carry as much weight as a political veteran’s legislative wrangling and budget balancing.

“Americans have a tendency to look around and think, ‘We are all peers now,’” Nichols told me. “It sounds lovely. Except that when you’re up to your hips in water in the basement and you’ve got a plumber standing there, you hand the wrench to him and say, ‘O.K., maybe we’re not peers.’”