In early April, MaryBeth Monaco-Vavrik, a 24-year-old barre instructor and fitness influencer living in Washington, D.C., was sitting at the airport waiting for a flight to board when she had an idea for an Instagram Reel.

Monaco-Vavrik studied political science and communications at Davidson College. It became a habit, she said in a recent interview, to “always connect random things that don’t seem to relate.” In that moment, she juxtaposed two concepts that had been on her mind: Pilates and President Donald Trump.

Grinning at the camera, and lip-syncing to a popular TikTok clip about the Broadway musical “Wicked,” Monaco-Vavrik made her case : “Does anyone want me to explain the connection between the popularization of Pilates & running instead of strength training … and the rise of

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