The Presidential Rhetoric of Barack Obama and Donald Trump
A president’s ability to convey his message to the people is vital to his success. President Barack Obama and President Donald Trump have both used their speeches, social media, and interactions with the media to connect with their bases and respond to current events; however, the rhetorical styles they use to do these things are vastly different. During their campaigns, Trump and Obama used power rhetoric to help them succeed in their respective races. Their rhetoric styles have been on display when they address the country in times of conflict. These two presidents have shown that, despite their difference in rhetorical style, they both know how to excite their base.
Barack Obama
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and Donald Trump used powerful rhetoric during their campaign speeches that motivated their respective bases and, ultimately, led them to the presidency. On February 10, 2007, Barack Obama announced his candidacy for president in front of thousands of people in Springfield, Illinois. He began his speech by telling the crowd, “You came here today because you believe in what this country can be”. This line set the tone for his campaign. Barack Obama continued his speech and in a powerful moment, announced his candidacy for president of the United States. This speech and announcement brought hope to millions of Americans who believed their country was in desperate need for change. After the 2008 Iowa Caucus, Obama, after becoming the first African-American to win a Presidential primary election, gave a speech that would go down in history. Obama thanked the people of Iowa and inspired the nation to come together as one, despite the differences people may have. Obama’s campaign rhetoric continued to be about bringing people together instead of tearing people apart. Obama was able to convey to the American people that he was the one who would be able to bring change to Washington, D.C. On the night of Super Tuesday in 2008, Obama stated, “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” It was rhetoric like this that inspired Americans to get behind the movement Obama’s campaign created. Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign was built upon the ideals of bringing hope and change to the United States. In the biggest moments of Obama’s campaign, he used his spotlight to inspire people to be better and that, together, the people of the United States could work to create the country they wanted.
This message that Barack Obama perfected obviously worked as he received the most votes ever by a presidential candidate. Donald Trump’s approach to campaign speeches was, perhaps, the exact opposite of Obama’s. Donald Trump announced his candidacy for president in a speech at Trump Tower in New York City. During the speech Trump set the tone for a campaign that would be filled with fear mongering and falsehoods. During his speech, Trump said "When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best… They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists." While speaking about unemployment in the United States, Trump told people to ignore the unemployment rate reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and stated the real unemployment rate was approximately twenty percent. Trump’s style of rhetoric was unique in American politics and that is what made Trump so attractive to many voters. After his announcement speech, it was clear that Trump wouldn’t hold back in terms of his rhetoric and would always say what was on his mind. After his first primary win in New Hampshire, Trump said that in order to “make America great again” the …show more content…
United States had to start beating countries like China, Japan, and Mexico. This “America first” mindset was one Donald Trump maintained throughout his campaign. During Trump’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention Trump spoke of crime rates, unemployment, trade deals, and the economy to create a grim portrait of the United States. Trump continues his speech by presenting himself as a savior and the one person who can fix these problems. Trump’s rhetoric during the campaign made him a polarizing candidate. The way Donald Trump spoke and the rhetoric he used set him apart from every other candidate for president. This was especially the case during the debates between Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. While Clinton seemed more calm and politically correct, Trump continued his off the cuff strategy and went after Clinton calling her a “nasty woman” and saying, if he were elected president, he would put Hilary Clinton in jail. While Trump and Obama’s style in their campaign rhetoric differed, ultimately, they both perfected their respective strategies and won the presidency, in part, because of it. The president has a duty to address the American people during times of anxiety and conflict.
A president should give the people a sense of hope, calmness, and leadership even in the face of tragedy and danger. While both Obama and Trump’s rhetorical styles may have been helpful in getting them elected, their differences have affected their ability to give the American people what they need to hear in times of conflict. After the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando that killed forty-nine, many of whom were part of the LGBTQ community, President Obama stood with the LGBTQ people saying “Regardless of race, religion, faith or sexual orientation, we’re all Americans, and we need to be looking after each other and protecting each other at all times in the face of this kind of terrible act”. After the same tragedy, Trump released a statement attacking President Obama, Hilary Clinton, and the religion of Islam. Hours after the attack, Trump tweeted “Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism, I don't want congrats, I want toughness & vigilance. We must be smart!”. Many people were disappointed in Trump and felt he did not support the LGBTQ community in the most sensitive of times for the group. The LGBTQ community is not the only minority group that Trump has neglected to support in times of crisis and sensitivity. In August of 2017, a group of white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and Klansmen, some of whom were carrying semi-automatic rifles,
swastikas, and Confederate flags, marched across Charlottesville, Virginia, clashed with counter protesters injuring over thirty people and killing one person (CNN). President Trump responded by saying “both sides” were to blame for the violence. When speaking about the group of white supremacists, Trump stated “You had some bad people in that group, but you also had very fine people on both sides”. The president’s comments were devastating to not only the African-American community, but everyone who doesn’t believe racism and bigotry should be tolerated. Contrary to Trump, Barack Obama was able to convey that he would support all Americans regardless of their race. In Obama’s “More Perfect Union” 2008 campaign speech, Obama told the story of his mixed-race background and addressed the issue of race relations in this country. Obama stated “This nation is more than the sum of its parts—that out of many, we are truly one.” The most dramatic difference between Barack Obama and Donald Trump, in terms of their rhetorical styles, is the methods they use to deliver information to the people. Barack Obama, as president spoke eloquently and arguably poetically. Oftentimes, the language he used was sophisticated and well prepared. Obama spoke in measured tones and advanced informed, reasoned dialogue. Donald Trump’s rhetoric, however, is much more bombastic. Trump’s speaks in a simplistic and brusque manner and, oftentimes, shows little regard to the factuality of things he says. Trump uses falsities and fear mongering to get people to think the way he does. According to PolitiFact, nearly seventy percent of Trump’s statements are considered false. For reference, approximately twenty-five percent of Obama’s statements were considered false. The truthfulness of their rhetoric is not the only difference between the two, as their methods for putting out information are drastically different as well. During Trump’s first year in office, he has only held one press conference. During Obama’s first year in office, he held seven. Since becoming president, Trump has sent out nearly 2,500 tweets on his official @POTUS twitter account. Obama only sent out 352 tweets during his eight years as president. In conclusion, president Barack Obama and president Donald Trump have both used their speeches, social media, and interactions with the media to connect with their bases and respond to current events; however, the rhetorical styles they use to do these things are vastly different. During their campaigns, the messages they conveyed to their bases and to the American people were drastically different. Obama focused conveying a message of togetherness while Trump conveyed an attitude of “in order for us to win, someone else must lose”. Obama’s rhetoric brought hope that everyone could work together to make the United States better. Trump’s rhetoric brought divisiveness to the forefront. During their presidencies, they stuck with the rhetorical styles that got them elected. Obama continued to inspire hope in the face of conflict, crisis, ad tragedy. Trump continued to rally his base and leave others behind. Barack Obama was great at inspiring people and giving them hope. Donald Trump is great at creating fear and presenting himself as the person who can get rid of those fears. Despite the difference between these two men and their rhetorical styles, both were able to use their rhetorical styles to motivate their respective bases, get themselves elected, and address the problems the United States faces. Works Cited Morgan, David. “Transcript of Barack Obama Speech”. CBS News, 10 Feb. 2007, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/transcript-of-barack-obamas-speech/ “Barack Obama’s Caucus Speech”. The New York Times, 3 Jan. 2008, https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/03/us/politics/03obama-transcript.html “Obama on Super Tuesday: 'Our Time Has Come'”. The Washington Post, 6 Feb. 2008, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/06/AR2008020600199.html “Here’s Donald Trump’s Presidential Announcement Speech”. Time, 16 Jun. 2015 http://time.com/3923128/donald-trump-announcement-speech/ “Donald Trump’s very happy victory speech, annotated”. The Washington Post, 9 Feb. 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/02/09/the-anatomy-of-a-donald-trump-victory-speech/?utm_term=.5d7bd10752f9 “Full text: Donald Trump 2016 RNC draft speech transcript”. Politico, 21 Jul. 2016, https://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/full-transcript-donald-trump-nomination-acceptance-speech-at-rnc-225974 Garunay, Melanie. “President Obama on the Tragic Shooting in Orlando”. The White House, 16 Jun. 2016, https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2016/06/12/president-obama-tragic-shooting-orlando McKay, Tom. “Donald Trump Issues Appalling Statement on Pulse Nightclub Massacre in Orlando”. Mic Network, 12 Jun. 2016, https://mic.com/articles/146018/donald-trump-issues-appalling-statement-on-pulse-nightclub-massacre-in-orlando#.e4xdwsIWk Cillizza, Chris. “Donald Trump's incredibly unpresidential statement on Charlottesville”. CNN, 13 Aug. 2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/08/12/politics/trump-charlottesville-statement/index.html Schallhorn, Kaitlyn. “Trump on Charlottesville: From blaming ‘both sides’ for attack to berating the media”. Fox News, http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/08/23/trump-on-charlottesville-from-blaming-both-sides-for-attack-to-berating-media.html Leith, Sam. “Trump’s rhetoric: a triumph of inarticulacy”. The Guardian, 13 Jan. 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/13/donald-trumps-rhetoric-how-being-inarticulate-is-seen-as-authentic “Donald Trump’s File”. PolitiFact, http://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/ “Barack Obama’s File”. PolitiFact, http://www.politifact.com/personalities/barack-obama/
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