Nicholas Kristof

The article, “President Trump’s War on Women Begins,” was featured in The New York Times, a center-left publication, on 1/26/17. The author of the article is Nicholas Kristof. Kristof is a columnist for the Times with a history of anti-Trump messaging. The article is extremely biased and slanted against the President. In terms of accuracy, the author fails to provide sourcing for many of his assertions. The solution presented by the author is to march and resist the President. The solution does not include opposing views and the pros and cons are not discussed.

The title, “President Trump’s War on Women Begins,” is the authors first appeal to fear. The word war implies that Trump is targeting women and is acting against them. In addition to the title, he first three paragraphs on the first page are where the author calls the president a liar. In the second paragraph, Kristof comments on the usage

The first paragraph on the second page is where the author claims that “thousands of impoverished, vulnerable women will die.” (Kristof, 2017) Besides a natural appeal to fear, the question is raised of where the sourcing is on this and what the evidence is. The second paragraph is where Kristof utilizes some name-calling when calling President Trump “delusional.” An additional appear to fear is found in the third paragraph on the second page when the author calls Trump “pro-death.”

The final three paragraphs on the second page are filled with appeals to emotion. In these paragraphs, Kristof states that “I wish Trump could see them: a mother of three in Cameroon dying…a woman in Niger collapsing from a common complication called eclampsia.” (Kristof, 2017) The paragraphs use such descriptive language to obtain an emotional reaction from the reader. The author uses this to persuade readers to his viewpoint on abortion in