Trump’s vocabulary exercise
The Times has compiled a massive collection of Trump’s Twitter insults of various people and institutions. Each item is a link. That’s a lot of work!
Let’s look at the list under Elizabeth Warren:
Then there’s the Times itself:
He’s a credit to us all.
These lists highlight the poverty of his rhetorical skills. I know that fair-minded liberals are supposed to say, “He might be a demagogue, but he sure does know how to communicate effectively with the mob.” But if you read transcripts of his remarks, it’s nothing more than a few pet phrases and epithets repeated endlessly.
It all sounds like, “We’re going to win, folks. We’re going to win, believe me. I’m telling you, we’re going to win. It’s not even going to be close. We’re going to win so big. Not even close. Believe me, not even close. Such a big win.”
That’s the vocabulary we should expect from a man who (proudly) doesn’t read. He has no opportunity to brush up on the finer nuances of language.
Maybe I should send him my book of Shakespearean insults – it would at last make things more fun.
George Lakoff explains how Republican rhetoric in general and Trump’s rhetoric in particular have been successful in terms of linguistics and cognitive science. Lakoff recommends reading his first article to understand his theory in general first, then reading his second article on Trump makes sense in that context. From his second article,
Lakoff recommends that political progressives should study how this works. As a practical guide, I can recommend his book Don’t Think of an Elephant!: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate.
Yes, I’ve followed Lakoff’s work on this a little bit…via other people’s summaries, mostly. Matt Nisbet and Chris Mooney were big on him back in the days when they were very keen to tell atheists to sit down and be quiet. In short people used to talk about “framing” a lot, often crediting Lakoff.
It looks as if Trump’s rhetoric hasn’t been all that successful. He won some but at the price of repelling more.
…But I’m reading the first piece now & will then read the second. Thank you for the reminder, Dave!
Come to think of it, I have read Moral Politics. Should re-read it now.