Rhetorical Analysis Of Donald Trump's Inaugural Address

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There was a certain irony when Donald Trump took his oath of office from Supreme Court Justice John Roberts. It hads been less than a year since Trump called Justice Roberts “a disaster in terms of everything we stand for”. It was the perfect segue to introduce our new president to the nation. To complete the scene, Hillary Clinton—, who won the popular vote, but not the presidency—, was forced to sit and watch as Trump blundered through his inaugural address. A controversial figure at best, Trump forcefully delivered a predictable address to a nation that was holding itstheir breath in anticipation. His inauguration speech was exactly what I expected it to be- stunningly blunt and full of glittering promises. Oblivious to the occasion, …show more content…

The bleary weather during Trump’s inauguration seemed to echo the picture he painted during his speech- an ominous image of a dysfunctional America. He denounced the mess he was inheriting, how much work would need to be done to “Make America Great Again”. Factories shut their doors, American workers suffered. The wealth of the middle class has disappeared. America’s infrastructure in disrepair and decay while we spent trillions of dollars overseas. And while Trump listed his complaints, one common thread could be discerned. America has focused too much on other countries and not enough on herself. “America First” from here on out. And yet, for all the problems that Trump spoke of, his solution seemed incredibly simple: “Buy American, hire American”. And then, in his own words: “America will start winning again, winning like never before”. Seems almost too good to be true. In order to appease his many critics, Trump will need to show he is a strong and decisive leader, someone that will follow through on all of his impressive campaign promises. From his speech, it seemed that he was serious about pursuing those topics, but his ability to bring those ideas to fruition is still questionable. He promised the end of an era- with this new president would come a new government; one that would be “controlled by the people”. We can only hope that prediction will come

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