The Age of Alternative Facts

Known for being a prominent business man and television personality, Donald J. Trump launched his presidential campaign in June of 2015. As someone who had lived in the spotlight for years, he had mused about a presidential run from the early 80’s, something that was widely dismissed. Even after his official campaign launch, many found his presidential bid to be laughable, and immediately placed him as the underdog for the Republican nomination. Although inexperienced in politics and facing many barriers, his campaign successfully connected to the American people and resulted in not only the nomination for the Republican candidacy, but in becoming the 45th President of the United States.

Trump was seen as a political outsider, was known for his outlandish and outspoken presentation, and incited a range of emotions from all ends of the political spectrum with his aggressive tactics and far right values.

All of these small features of the Trump campaign could have easily barred him from a successful run but contributed to his presidential win in 2016.

This is seen in his 2016 speech given in Charlotte, North Carolina. Trump had already secured the Republican nomination and was pitted against the Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton; whose campaign held a stark difference than that of Trump’s. Clinton was an experienced politician, presented a cool and put together composure, and ran an organized and efficient campaign. Although Clinton could have been a large barrier to Trump, the selection of Clinton as the Democratic opponent soon became his advantage. In his campaign, Trump utilized a number of rhetorical devices such as ethos, pathos, paromologia, anaphora, and hyperbole to vilify Clinton and to establish himself as a political outsider, moves that would all contribute to his win.

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Trump used their differences as a key premise of his platform and highlighted many of these differences in his speech. Although Clinton was politically skilled and had a lifetime of experience in the political arena, this would be a large factor in her loss. Trump used his position as an outsider to gain a populist appeal and create an “us against them” mentality that would serve to connect with many voters who felt withdrawn and disengaged from those who represent them in Washington. Donald Trump utilized ethos to establish himself as a credible source from the beginning of the speech, building upon the point that politicians are distrustful and using divisive language to establish his otherness and make his political inexperience advantageous. During his speech he points out that many politicians are funded by large corporations, their campaign platforms directly influenced by the people and companies that sponsor them. Given that Trump is an established business man, he funded his campaign himself.

This factor was extremely beneficial during his campaigning to establish his trustworthiness and assert the fact that he could not be bought. He states “I have no special interest. I am spending millions of dollars on my own campaign – nobody else is. My only interest is the American people”. This serves to establish his credibility over his opponent, and further emphasize his role as an outsider. Although Clinton has a clear advantage with her years of experience, painting her as an untrustworthy career politician creates disconnect between her and potential voters. Trump also employed pathos during this speech, defaming Clinton’s character and stirring up the emotions of viewers. He made a number of remarks regarding Clinton, going as far as to say that “Hillary Clinton’s mistakes destroy innocent lives”. This technique was common during the Trump campaign, often using harsh criticism, false accusations, and both abnormal and irrational patterns of speech during the election.

While originally this type of behavior made his campaign seem farcical, his charades garnered the attention of many media outlets. Although much of the media coverage did not paint him in a good light, his campaign soon became an example of how all media coverage is good media coverage. It was estimated that “Over the course of the campaign, he [had] earned close to $2 billion worth of media attention, about twice the all-in price of the most expensive presidential campaigns in history”. He showed just how much the message could trump the material, putting out a catch phrase that ignited a passion within voters that Clinton’s campaign did not reach. Regardless of her well-spoken, well intentioned, and clear messages throughout her campaign, she simply did not inspire enough emotions to get voters to the polls. This would become Hillary Clinton’s downfall, as Democratic apathy and antipathy towards Clinton fostered low voter turnout.

This would be a main point that lead to the Republican win, as Clinton’s “likeability” would become a Trump advantage. The Barbara Lee Family Foundation found that likability often matters more for female candidates than for male candidates (2012). Clinton’s character was questioned numerous times throughout the election, and Trump’s hyperbolic discussion of her past actions and personal wrongdoings pushed many of the conservative public into viewing her with an even more unfavorable eye and pushed the left into further indifference. This type of rhetoric is very common in political dialog that lacks substantive evidence, and it has even been noted that “noncomic hyperbole is a common feature of conspiracy arguments” . This was not the first time Trump has used hyperbolic claims to push conspiracy, as he is noted for being a key contributor of the birther movement that asserted that President Barack Obama was not a natural citizen of the United States.

He used the same tactic to hit on one of the biggest issues that faced Hillary’s campaign: her private email server. This became one of the leading topics of discussion, as Trump was insistent on the idea that Clinton’s emails proved her dishonesty. He referenced her “dark secrets” during his Charlotte Speech and claimed that she was “sacrifice[ing] national security and betray[ing] the working families of this country”. Although her actions regarding her emails were rigorously investigated and did not warrant pressing charges according to the FBI, her carelessness in this single instance was enough to be coined “Crooked Hillary” by Trump. This was one of Trump’s most substantial points in his Charlotte speech, enforcing the idea that he was the candidate to be trusted. This was one of his main focuses from the beginning of his speech, as he repeatedly ascertained the idea that he had no reason to lie as a political outsider. He utilized the rhetorical device of paromologia, conceding to many of his downfalls in an effort to actually strengthen the public’s view of his character.

Near the beginning of his speech he stated, “I’ve never wanted to learn the language of the insiders, and I’ve never been politically correct – it takes far too much time, and can often make more difficult”. His use of offensive language was seen as one of his largest downfalls, as many people originally did not take him seriously. By claiming political correctness to be the “language of the insiders” however, he has flipped this into being a tool to separate him from his component, a known political insider. He actually takes this a step further, even apologizing for potentially causing harm with what he has said. This point is however flipped within the next line, saying “one thing I can promise you is this: I will always tell you the truth” (Trump, 2016). His harmful language was remarkedly unpresidential but was framed in a manner that insisted that because his language was not deliberate it was more truthful. The combination of his reframing tactics and the general public view that Clinton was an unrelatable career politician further served to divide the two candidates and establish Trump’s place as a political outsider, making him the candidate that would serve as the voice of the people.

This populist appeal is even more apparent in his numerous uses of anaphora, a rhetorical device that was useful in useful in “building a climax” and “producing a strong emotional effect”. He continues to hit on his trustworthiness that he established with his use of paromologia, by saying “I speak the truth for all of you… I speak the truth on behalf of the factory worker… I speak the truth on behalf of the Veteran…etc.” . By using anaphora, he touches on the various citizens he would represent given a win. He specifically targeted groups that were becoming increasingly disengaged with the Democratic party, as it has been noted that both veterans and factory workers are moving towards the Republican party. He actually listed three specific generalizable and relatable American tropes: factory workers, veterans, and families. All of these appeal to a wide variety of people and represent emblems of Americanism, touching on the key values and widespread cultural holdings of the average citizen.

Given this use of rhetoric, his established position as a political outsider, and Clinton’s problem with “likability,” the billionaire and television personality somehow became the candidate most deemed “relatable.”This in itself is a reflection of how successful Trump was in his campaign, whether that was due to the assistance of free press, or not. Trump was seen as an unlikely victor from day one, his campaign even seen as laughable by many. This would serve to be one his greatest advantages, as the media coverage of Trump’s charades ultimately would allow his rhetoric to find the eyes and ears of his voters. This infiltration into the American home allowed for Trump to sway key states that lead to his victory. Trump’s success in the presidential election was testament to his success in his use of rhetoric.

This election served as evidence of Plato’s main points on democracy, given that “he feared that democratic gatherings would be too swayed by rhetoric itself, by technique rather than substance” (Brummett, 2018). Inarguably, Clinton was the better politician by far, having a lengthy background of public servitude, and presenting herself in a professional and put together manner throughout the course of the election. This, however, was not enough, as both Trump and the media found ways to demonize her and use her public servitude to paint her as another career politician. This exemplified Plato’s idea that democracy is inherently imperfect. “Plato argued that because true democracies refer all issues to all the people and because nobody can be an expert on every issue, democracy itself was flawed because it asked people to discuss problems and issues on which they were not experts”.

The value of Democracy has decreased with the public being ill informed and unable to make proper decisions. Trump’s use of rhetoric allowed for him to shape public opinion in a way that was not based on operationalizable knowledge or facts, but was instead based on abstract concepts such as “likability,” “trustworthiness,” and “relatability.” By utilizing ethos, pathos, paromologia, anaphora, and hyperbole he was able to successfully vilify Clinton and to establish himself as a political outsider. This manipulation of information is a key downfall to current democratic processes, and this election serves to highlight the power of rhetorical devices and media in persuading the public. This power of persuasion is what ultimately allowed for a sensationalist billionaire to win a presidential election, and for a highly approved of Secretary of State to become a candidate with favorability ratings among the worst in US history.

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