After reading this analysis in the NYT (limited gift link), deconstructing Trump’s recent rallies and themes, you’d be a fool not to vote for Trump. He may not have signed the traditional ethics papers as part of a government handover, but he really drills down on policy and showcases his winsome and positive personality.
After reading your sarcastic post, I assumed the analysis would be another example of the NYT ‘sanewashing’ trump, but it appeared to me to be a pretty clear-eyed, critical deconstruction of his rallies and what makes them tick. Interesting article, thanks for the gift link.
I like that infographic; way better than hearing Mr. Trump speak.
I agree with @solost; I expected another NYT article normalizing Trump but that was informative breakdown of what he says. Thanks.
In case the gift link stops gifting…
Limited Excerpt:
Like most politicians, [Trump] repeats things at every speech. Unlike most politicians, he offers a grim view of the country, makes up nicknames for his opponents and pledges to use the power of the government to punish his rivals.
To help readers experience what a Trump rally is like, we used video to break down the nine themes [Trump] consistently returns to (summarized, article shows pictures and gives more detail):
- “Only I can save the country from lawlessness and crime”.
- Insulting names for people Trump dislikes.
- Generally false claims about gov’t or Dems
- “The Hits”: guests, Hannibal, “Snake” poem
- Vague support of political violence.
- Vague agenda: tax cuts, deportations, etc.
- Digression: “weaving” politics, psychobabble
- 2020 steal, Putin good, will persecute opp
- increasing slurs and stumbles
I’ll add my thanks for the gifted article. Never thought about it before, but the article is right. I’ve never been to a Trump rally, but I’ve seen enough “highlights” on the news, to say that every one is always going to be one of the nine stated.
Thanks again!
From The Atlantic today:
Last night in Pittsburgh, Harris’s most powerful surrogate, former President Barack Obama, delivered his first major campaign address of the season, just 24 hours after Trump held two Pennsylvania events in one day. Their rhetorical styles couldn’t be more different. But each former president landed on a similar, aggressive line of attack: They don’t care about you.
Trump spoke to a not-quite-full arena in Reading, Pennsylvania. He painted a dark, chaotic portrait of America. Migrants, Trump said, have been coming from places “all over the world into your cities and small towns, changing them forever, and I have to say: ruining them.” Trump positioned himself as America’s savior, sounding rather autocratic: “I will liberate Pennsylvania and our entire nation from this vast migrant invasion of murderers and child predators and gang members, terrorists, drug dealers, and thugs.” He referred to his predecessor as Barack Hussein Obama and repeatedly attacked Harris’s intelligence, deeming her “not smart” and “a dumb person.” He droned on for nearly 90 minutes, finding no shortage of synonyms with which to denigrate her. “Kamala Harris is grossly incompetent, she cannot be trusted, and she is totally ill-equipped to do the job of president of the United States of America,” Trump said.
He also zigzagged even more than usual, making pointless and nonsensical remarks. He spoke of his “beautiful body,” his love of corn. He talked about Howard Stern’s radio ratings and riffed about the forgotten ’90s Whoopi Goldberg comedy Eddie. “Politics can do strange things to demented people,” Trump said. People started to trickle out of the arena long before he was finished…
OK, you included the bit about Trump, but what about Obama?
The article mentions Obama’s recent speech in Pittsburgh, but this article is more detailed.
Obama contrasted Harris’ upbringing and policy goals with those of former President Donald Trump, who he said has “consistently shown disregard, not just for our communities but for you as a person. And you’re thinking about sitting out?”
I see what some of you mean by “projection”…
In whine-o, veritas.
There’s nothing left of the irony meter but a scattering of atoms.
The key to understanding Trump’s rally speeches is to picture him with a “toothbrush mustache” and pretend he’s giving the speech in its original German.
It’s amazing how little cognitive dissonance that actually causes.
A similar case of megalomaniacal rambling
Something else that I think worth remembering here, and it falls handily into the “truth is stranger than fiction” category:
“Last April, perhaps in a surge of Czech nationalism, Ivana Trump told her lawyer Michael Kennedy that from time to time her husband reads a book of Hitler’s collected speeches, My New Order, which he keeps in a cabinet by his bed. Kennedy now guards a copy of My New Order in a closet at his office, as if it were a grenade. Hitler’s speeches, from his earliest days up through the Phony War of 1939, reveal his extraordinary ability as a master propagandist.”
–Vanity Fair, 7/2015
The HMS Coincidence hath long, long ago sailed.
Beg pardon, but surely USS Coincidence?
Well, he did mention a 1939 phony war… that’s pretty long ago.
It was an homage:
Hitler had lost the Battle of the Atlantic, due the perseverance of individual sailors and merchant seamen who kept the ships moving no matter what, along with improved coordination between the British Navy and Air Force,
So, without reading the Atlantic article (paywalled), I’m still trying to figure out why they said (and you highlighted):
But each former president landed on a similar, aggressive line of attack: They don’t care about you.
What did Obama say that indicated he doesn’t care about voters? Or was it rampant bothsiderism from The Atlantic? (And if so, why highlight it?)
ETA: OK, wait a sec … my coffee just hit my brain … the article was saying that each speaker was accusing the other side’s candidate of not caring about voters.
Please disregard my last two posts!
After the no bus debacle, I actually heard a snippet of trump bragging that nobody leaves his rallies early. It made me laugh. I bet his rally goers would laugh too, even if they were one of the stranded ones.
Also, Kamala really got under his thin skin with her remarks.