Page 3 (Uses of Rhetoric in Politics)
Political Rhetoric
In America, politics and rhetoric go hand-in-hand.
Especially today, in which American politics are more partisan than ever. With the great political divide between the right, left, and even center wings, modern political rhetoric can be difficult to understand from the outside, let alone to observe from the inside.
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Politicians utilize techniques like repitition, slogans, and strategical jargon to create a sense of familiarity in their audience and to draw attention away from contradictions or logical inconsistencies (2), making political rhetoric is inherently different from other forms of rhetoric.
However, it still boils down to the basic function of rhetoric:
to persuade.
"Positive" Political Rhetoric Does Not Exist
It's not because it is impossible to be positive in politics.
Reception of political messages will always be associated with whatever beliefs a person has, whether that person agrees or disagrees with the message or the politician's policy leanings.
With the limited number of political parties to choose from, and the candidates in major elections typically only being from these two parties, it forces Americans to choose between two options, whether their beliefs actually align with that party or not. With so few choices, some Americans have resorted to voting for what some opinion authors call the 'lesser of two evils' (4).
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The chart to the right provides insight to the growing tension between the two major political parties in America, Republicans and Democrats, and how that tension has been steadily rising over the past 30 years. (3)
By associating political figures with a certain party, even before associating them with the views they are displaying, all political messages will inherently be linked to that political party. This means that there will always be someone of the opposite party that disagrees with a statement by a politician, even if the statement is factually correct.
Pursuing an Agenda
Many politicians will use rhetoric that aligns with a certain agenda that they have.
Often times, the hidden agendas of politicians involve money that they receive from large donors for the sake of protecting the interest of those donors. With little public attention given to the donations that politicians receive, their pursuance of these agendas to serve their own interests can go unnoticed.
Political rhetoric is also used frequently by politicians to pursue innocence amid scandals.
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37th President Richard Nixon, in response to the Watergate scandal that would eventually lead to his near-impeachment and resignation, said the infamous line
"I am not a crook" (5).
Nixon's rhetorical strategy throughout the Watergate scandal, to pursue his agenda of innocence and retaining his presidency, was to deny allegations and attempt to bring public focus back to his accomplishments as president.
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One of the more recent scandals involves newly-elected Congressman George Santos, who fabricated the majority of his resume, both work experience and education, in order to appeal to his district's voters.
Though admitting he has lied about his experience, Santos uses rhetoric to try to sway the focus away from his lies, claiming that "everyone overstates on their resumes", but that it won't stop him from having "good legislative success" (6).
Both of these scandals features politicians that utilized a certain form of denial rhetoric, determined to remind their constituents of their political records rather than the scandals.
Both of these politicians are frequently remembered not as upstanding lawmakers,
but as liars only interested in pursuing their own interests.
The MAGA Movement
How Donald Trump changed political rhetoric forever
From the moment his campaign began gaining momentum in 2015, Donald Trump forged his own form of political rhetoric, tossing common courtesy and good morals out the window.
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Gone are the days of 2008, when Republican Presidential candidate John McCain rebuked a voter's claim that she could not trust Democratic candidate and opponent Barack Obama, saying that "he's a decent family man, a citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues, and that's what this campain is all about" (7).
Instead, from 2015 onward, Donald Trump as a major political candidate created a new normal for political interactions that were entirely based around insults and lies instead of differences in legislative policies and political approaches. (8)
Additionally, Donald Trump is credited with creating the mass wave of doubt surrounding the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic, as he frequently called the virus "Chinavirus" and referred to the pandemic as a "hoax" meant to make him and his political response look bad. As a result, America was improperly prepared for the pandemic response, and over 500,000 Americans became victim to the virus. (8)
2020 Election 'Fraud' and the January 6th Insurrection
Arguably the most harmful impact of Trump's hateful rhetoric is when he began denying the results of the 2020 election, claiming the results had been tampered with and that he should have won.
Despite an overwhelming amount of evidence that there was no trace of voter fraud, Trump and his allies, including popular news outlet Fox News, continued to pander to the American people that the election had been stolen. (9)
On January 6th, 2021, Trump addressed a crowd of his supporters at a rally with the theme "Save America", in which he told his supporters to march on the Capitol to stop the election certification (10). Though Trump has denied his responsibility of the insurrection, the rhetoric that he used on that day all points to the fear that his supporters felt at losing their country, and his words clearly encourage them to take action. Examples include:
"We will never give up. We will never concede." (10)
"If you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore." (10)
"We are going to the Capitol. Peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard." (10)
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Works Cited
1. Kabaservice, Geoffrey. “State of Disunion.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 28 Sept. 2012, https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/30/books/review/our-divided-political-heart-by-e-j-dionne-jr.html?pagewanted=all.
2. Johnson, Lee. “What Is Political Rhetoric?” Language Humanities, Updated 27 Apr. 2023, https://www.languagehumanities.org/what-is-political-rhetoric.htm.
3. Nadeem, Reem. “As Partisan Hostility Grows, Signs of Frustration with the Two-Party System.” Pew Research Center - U.S. Politics & Policy, Pew Research Center, 17 Nov. 2022, https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2022/08/09/as-partisan-hostility-grows-signs-of-frustration-with-the-two-party-system/.
4. Lopez, Mario H. (Opinion contributor) “Sick of Choosing between the 'Lesser of Two Evils'? Push for Electoral Reform.” The Hill, The Hill, 8 Dec. 2021, https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/584353-sick-of-choosing-between-the-lesser-of-two-evils-push-for-electoral-reform/.
5. Stanley, Timothy. “Nixon at 100: A Model for GOP?” CNN, Cable News Network, 9 Jan. 2013, https://www.cnn.com/2013/01/09/opinion/stanley-nixon-at-100/index.html.
6. Demissie, Hannah, and Lauren Peller. “NY Rep.-Elect George Santos Now Says He Lied about College and His Career.” ABC News, ABC News Network, 27 Dec. 2022, https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/ny-rep-elect-george-santos-lied-college-career/story?id=95848285.
7. Segarra, Lisa Marie. “John McCain Defends Barack Obama in Video from 2008 Election.” Time, Time, 29 Apr. 2021, https://time.com/4866404/john-mccain-barack-obama-arab-cancer/.
8. Van Syckle, Katie. “Five Years, Thousands of Insults: Tracking Trump's Invective.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 26 Jan. 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/26/insider/Trump-twitter-insults-list.html.
9. Corasaniti, Nick, et al. “The Times Called Officials in Every State: No Evidence of Voter Fraud.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 11 Nov. 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/10/us/politics/voting-fraud.html.
10. Cabral, Sam. “Capitol Riots: Did Trump's Words at Rally Incite Violence?” BBC News, BBC, 14 Feb. 2021, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55640437.