Donald Trump Rhetoric

Famous philosopher and poet, Aristotle, once described, “[rhetoric] may be defined as the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion. This is not a function of any other art.” Thus, rhetoric is a form of clear, perceptible language which leads its observers to make a specific and calculated conclusion. Many consider politicians to be the most avid users of rhetoric, constantly trying to convince audiences to vote or certain way or to shift the national political agenda in a direction that fits their means. In many cases, politicians are accused of being liars or untruthful for doing so. Contrary, others consider politicians to be masters of languages, constantly formulating methods to make their arguments more
Following his slanderous case against politicians, Trump begins to outline why he is different and somehow more superior. Trump alienates himself by politicians by stating, “[frankly] our government has no idea what they’re doing on many, many fronts, folks,” ("Transcript of Donald Trump’s Immigration Speech"). By doing so, he challenges the status quo by urging the crowd to vote for a less traditional candidate. In addition, Trump makes himself much more relatable by “blending in” with the audience in the sense that he is not a politician, either. Another way Trump challenges the status quo is by comparing and contrasting himself to his opponent who is often stereotyped as an establishment politician. Trump conveys, “Hillary Clinton… talks constantly about her fears that families will be separated, but she’s not talking about the American families who have been permanently separated from their loved ones because of a preventable homicide, because of a preventable death, because of murder,” ("Transcript of Donald Trump’s Immigration Speech"). Trump makes very rash comparison between the two, attempting to further reinforce the point that he is not traditional, and that traditional politicians are bad at their job. Lastly, Trump prompts his credibility by describing who he works with. “I also worked with lawmakers, who’ve led on this issue on behalf of American citizens for many years. And most importantly I’ve met with the people directly impacted by these policies,” Trump describes, ("Transcript of Donald Trump’s Immigration Speech"). Trump’s claim works in two ways. First, it displays that he is capable of working with others despite being criticized for having too large of an ego. Two, it portrays that he may in fact have a comprehensive plan to enforce immigration reform. Overall, Trump uses ethos to paint himself as an average man, alienated