How Trump Trumps Rhetoric: A Stylistic Comparison Between Pre- and Post-Election Trump-Speeches

This article examines whether the speeches given by Donald Trump after his election have become more presidential since his election campaign speeches in 2016. Four speeches, selected from both before and after the 2016 elections, have been analysed and compared in two different ways. The speeches selected from before the elections were Trump’s announcement of his run for the presidency and his acceptance of the Republican nomination. The selection of post-election speeches consisted of the first speech Trump gave to a joint session of congress in his official appearance as president and his first official SOTU address. The first manner of comparison used Pennebaker et al’s (2007) Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) programme. The second manner of comparison analysed the speeches for their differences in their use of rhetorical and stylistic figures. The analysis showed that the speeches given by Trump before his 2016 election were less complex, more divisive and less positive...Show moreThis article examines whether the speeches given by Donald Trump after his election have become more presidential since his election campaign speeches in 2016. Four speeches, selected from both before and after the 2016 elections, have been analysed and compared in two different ways. The speeches selected from before the elections were Trump’s announcement of his run for the presidency and his acceptance of the Republican nomination. The selection of post-election speeches consisted of the first speech Trump gave to a joint session of congress in his official appearance as president and his first official SOTU address. The first manner of comparison used Pennebaker et al’s (2007) Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) programme. The second manner of comparison analysed the speeches for their differences in their use of rhetorical and stylistic figures. The analysis showed that the speeches given by Trump before his 2016 election were less complex, more divisive and less positive than those given after his election. Furthermore, the analysis showed that the use of stylistic devices in the pre-election speeches was more focused on emphasising problems, whereas post-election they were used more to emphasise achievement and to embellish the speech itself. This suggests that there has been a visible change in style between the two periods, which indicates that Trump’s speeches have become more like those of his predecessors.Show less

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How Trump Trumps Rhetoric: A Stylistic Comparison Between Pre- and Post-Election Trump-Speeches