Republican Donald Trump has made it clear that he intentionally used inflammatory language to gain attention in the 2024 presidential election.
The former president said in a March interview with Fox News host Howard Kurtz that if he doesn’t use certain words, “maybe not very nice words, but nothing will happen.”
President Trump employed this signature tactic in his infamous June 2015 inaugural address, when he described some Mexican immigrants as criminals and rapists, but later revealed that it was planned. he admitted.
It’s a style that excites his conservative base as a leader who rejects the political correctness allegedly imposed by liberal Democrats. But it has criticized and horrified experts who have described it as an authoritarian-leaning campaign, especially in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters. .
Ruth Ben Guiat, history professor at New York University and author of Strongman: Mussolini to the Present, said: “Wake up people. This is an emergency. That’s what I do,” he said. I wrote in my March 29th post about X.
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She was referring to President Trump sharing a video last week of a pickup truck with a decal of President Joe Biden on it.
But the use of such words and imagery is something President Trump has stepped up this year in a rematch of his increasingly personal grudge against Biden.
At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February, President Trump said, “Your victory is our ultimate vindication, your freedom is our ultimate reward, and the unprecedented success of the United States of America is my ultimate vindication.” This is the ultimate and absolute revenge.”
As the campaign moves into general election mode, more attention is being focused on Trump’s campaign rhetoric and use of creepy images online to get his point across.
Here are some important points.
Metaphor or not, Trump often uses this kind of language.
Sometimes it’s direct and profaneor it may be so suggestive as to give potential Republican candidates space to refute Democratic claims.
But it’s always aimed at getting reactions from allies and critics, especially on hot topics like immigration and crime.
In March alone, President Trump raised eyebrows by saying that some illegal immigrants who come to the United States are “not human beings.” This outrage followed weeks later when he said that Jewish Americans who voted Democratic hated Israel and “their religion,” which enraged others.
But this month, one of the more notable backlashes from liberals appears to have played into President Trump’s hands.
Speaking at a rally in Ohio, he said the country would face “bloodshed” if defeated this November. The comment infuriated Democrats, but it came in the context of his calls for tough tariffs on Chinese-made cars to protect American automakers.
President Trump said, “I’m going to impose a 100% tariff on every car that crosses the border. If I’m elected, you won’t be able to sell those cars.”
“If I don’t get elected, the whole thing will be a disaster. That would be the bare minimum. It would be a disaster for the country. That would be the bare minimum.”
Anxiety about January 6th
One reason Democrats, anti-Trump Republicans, and political observers pounce on every word that comes out of Trump’s mouth is widespread anxiety about the state of American democracy.
It is largely based on the 2021 Capitol riot, in which about 140 police officers were injured and hundreds of other Trump supporters were charged with trying to overturn the 2020 election.
That Trump was the “central cause” of the attack, according to a 2022 House Investigations Committee report, is often forgotten in daily campaign coverage.
It also has to do with his continued refusal to acknowledge defeat in the last presidential election, which has become a litmus test for the Republican Party and further fuels many of the concerns about his rhetoric.
Back in 2016, Trump hinted at the possibility of a “riot” by his supporters if he failed to win the Republican nomination. Since then, he has often raised the possibility of violence or used violent imagery when discussing political issues and multiple court cases.
As the Manhattan District Attorney was pursuing an ongoing hush-money case, President Trump claimed that facing legal challenges to his candidacy, the country was in “chaos” and “possible death (and destruction).” He raised the possibility that there is a He also shared an image of himself holding a baseball bat near Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s head in a since-deleted Truth Social post.
toilet mouth president
One thing that is different about politics in this era is that oath in public much more acceptable.
For example, when talking about Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is prosecuting the Georgia election fraud case against Trump, the former president mocked her name during a rally in Ohio.
“It’s spelled out ‘Fanny’, like you, right? ” President Trump said..At other times he dropped a four letter word and bad.
As USA TODAY pointed out, Mr. Trump helped usher in a new era of foul-mouthed elected officials and candidates that would have made previous generations blush.
For example, at a rally in Georgia, President Trump said everything Biden mentioned “turn to sh—.”
Biden also joined in the use of expletives, but behind the scenes he called President Trump a “terrible son of a bitch,” Politico reported in February.
According to a 2019 Harris
When the same pollster asked a similar question in 2022 about whether Americans care about hearing profanity in public, only a few said “a lot” or “somewhat.” It was 49%.
