In the wake of the assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump, many have called for political rhetoric to be toned down. This is absolutely essential. While inflamed rhetoric alone cannot be responsible for a single act, such as the recent assassination attempt, it is important for all of us to examine our own speech. The same is also true for former president Donald Trump. His rhetoric is unlike that of any other modern day candidate for high office. There are several recognizable characteristics of Trump’s speaking style.
Trump offers overly simplistic answers to complex questions (build that wall!). He uses threatening language regularly (lock her up!). He favors crowd reaction over the truth of his message (stop the steal!). He employs the firehose of falsehood propaganda technique making it impossible to fact check him in real time. Trump relies on “Brandolini’s law” which states that the amount of energy needed to counter a stream of lies and misinformation is an order of magnitude greater than the amount required to produce it!
So let’s break this down a bit, by examining certain aspects of Trump’s rhetoric. And let’s see how they played out in his recent acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention. He began by recounting the attempt on his life and then called for unity. He said he wanted to be president for all Americans. Great! But as soon as he went off the teleprompter he fell back into his old patterns and prejudices which include:
Puffing himself up and belittling his opposition:
In the run-up to his first Presidential campaign Donald Trump stated, “I’m the most successful person ever to run for the presidency, by far. Nobody’s ever been more successful than me. I’m the most successful person ever to run. Ross Perot isn’t successful like me. Romney—I have a Gucci store that’s worth more than Romney.” In his RNC speech, he said that he “defeated Isis in four weeks” but it actually took over 2 years. He claimed that during his term the world was at peace but there were dozens of unresolved wars and conflicts when he left office. He claimed Biden was worse than the bottom 10 US Presidents combined, which ironically includes him as the all time worst.
Dehumanizing people of different backgrounds:
When Trump announced his candidacy for 2016 he stated, “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best … They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with [them]. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” While president, he referred to Haiti and African nations as s***hole countries. He has stated that illegal immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country” which is reminiscent of Nazi propaganda. In his RNC speech Trump stated that immigrants are “coming from prisons, they’re coming from jails, they’re coming from mental institutions and insane asylums. … Terrorists are coming in at numbers we’ve never seen before.” This claim has no basis in fact. On the Cornell Xenophobic Meter each of these statements would rate -3 “Very Xenophobic.”
Using language to incite potential violence:
In 2016 he encouraged people at his rally in Iowa to “knock the crap out of anyone with tomatoes.” In Las Vegas that same year, when a heckler was removed he said, “I’d like to knock the crap out of him.” And on January 6, 2021 he inspired a mob to march on the US Capitol. In his RNC speech Trump called for the “largest deportation in US history.” His plan to remove 11 million undocumented people would mean troops in the street and widespread violence in the US.
Threatening anyone who opposes him:
In the run-up to the 2024 elections he said that his former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of the Armed Services, Mark Milley should be executed for treason for speaking out against him. To be clear, Chairman Milley had been our nation’s highest ranking military officer and the principal military advisor to then President Trump. None of this held him back from his outrageous call for an execution. In his RNC speech he attacked the legal system that has charged him with numerous crimes and found him guilty of 34 felony charges and called Nancy Pelosi “crazy.”
Trump and Women:
Donald Trump has an unparalleled record of attacking women in particular with hateful speech. He was found liable in a court for law for sexual abuse, battery and defamation against E. Jean Carrol and fined millions. When he continued to berate her he was found liable yet again and fined many millions more. He has made numerous offensive and overtly sexist comments about women. In his RNC speech he was silent on women. He made no mention of the damage he has done with the overturn of Roe v Wade. He has begun his verbal assault on Kamala Harris by making fun of her laugh! No one can make fun of Trump’s laugh because Donald was taught by his father Fred that laughter was a sign of vulnerability, so he never laughs. Can you imagine living a life devoid of laughter?
Look at how Trump and his supporters react when he is criticized for what he says. They cry out that he is being mistreated. Some have even tried to blame the recent assassination attempt on anti-Trump rhetoric. Trump can say anything with impunity, but if you criticize him you are in the wrong. This is pure gaslighting. It is true that many love what Trump says. They revel in the bombast and bravado, or they choose to overlook it because they say they believe in him and his vision. Trump has a certain appeal to humanity’s baser instincts.
Trump has said he is more popular than Lincoln and probably a better president. This is quite the comparison because Lincoln is the anti-Trump in US presidential history. Rather than appeal to our baser instincts, Lincoln called us to live according to the “better angels of our nature” to unify our country and bridge our divisions. We can also be quite confident that Lincoln never made fun of a person with a disability, like Trump did.
We need to listen to our better angels, and call out Trump on his debasing rhetoric. We cannot be permissive with Trump when we would call out anyone else for his language and actions. We cannot become desensitized. Most of all, we need to defeat him at the polls this November. It is the only way to stop the firehose of lies, hate and prejudice that are the fuel for his rhetoric.
