donaldsdiscourse-blog

[donaldsdiscourse-blog]

Context: On November 11th of 2017 Trump gave a speech in South Korea where he denounced the nuclear efforts of North Korea. In response, the country released a statement on the Korean Central News Agency that “the reckless remarks by a dotard [old lunatic] like Trump can never frighten us or put a stop to our advance” (1). This tweet came in response to this statement. In 2018, after more and more divisive rhetoric from both sides, the world leaders have been able to meet and have promoted a plan to end the sanctions imposed on the small nation of North Korea in exchange for Kim Jung-Un stopping his pursuit of nuclear weapons. This has recently been brought into question by reports which state that Kim has not stopped improving its current missile programs (2). 

Discursive strategies: The strategy of calling Kim “short and fat” through the guise of not saying such a thing promotes the image of Trump as the non-aggressive party in the situation. Further, Trump directly states that he is attempting to maintain a friendship with the leader of North Korea. This strategy of appearing as the ‘good guy’ excludes the historical responses of the administration to the North Korea threat which have been the opposite of friendly. 

(1) https://www.vox.com/2017/11/12/16639462/trump-kim-north-korea-russia-twitter

(2) https://www.vox.com/world/2018/11/12/18087516/north-korea-missile-report-trump-csis-base-seoul

#3 most retweeted 

[donaldsdiscourse-blog]

Context: This specific tweet is dated November 8th, 2016, the day before President Trump's inauguration. The quote is Trump's campaign slogan, which is sometimes abbreviated to MAGA. The slogan appeals to Americans who want to see their country change in a significant way. It is also worth noting the personification of rhetorical instruments that occurs as part of the slogan. 

Discursive Strategies: In this tweet, President Trump uses all capital letters (also called “internet screaming”) to emphasize that gaining office will allow him to Make American Great Again. He says “we” in the tweet to signify collectivization, the idea that he represents the collective will of the American people when in reality he received less than half of the popular vote. 

http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1117157/FULLTEXT01.pdf

#2 most retweeted 

[donaldsdiscourse-blog]

#1 most retweeted 

Context: On July 2nd, 2017 the President tweeted this edited gif depicting him beating up the network. The video the clip was originally taken from was a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) promotional skit. The hashtag #FraudNewsCNN is in reference to Trumps macro-strategy of denouncing and attacking the mainstream media as “fake news” for posting content that is critical of his administration. The tweet caused a controversy on both sides of the aisle, with Trump's critiques arguing the divisive discourse perpetrated by the Commander in Cheif was an adept use of his platform. After the Washington Post responded with an article critiquing the president's use of the material, he responded by calling his tweets “modern presidential”(1,2). Trumps supporters argued back on social media using the hashtag #CNNBlackmail where they argued that the Cable News Network was threatening to dox the creator of the gif whom they tracked down via Reddit (3). 

Discursive strategies: The tweet uses satire to avoid being perceived as a direct attack on the media. The use of the gif format spread well online and lead to a slew of outrage, and support. It reflects a referential strategy where CNN is representative of Trump's attitude regarding the mainstream media as a whole, which has been previously constructed as the “The true Enemy of the People”(4). 

(1) https://www.washingtonpost.com/gdpr-consent/?destination=%2fnews%2fpowerpost%2fwp%2f2017%2f07%2f02%2flawmakers-blast-trumps-crude-false-and-unpresidential-cnn-tweet%2f%3f&utm_term=.001ae0ba12d2

(2) https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/881281755017355264?lang=en

(3) https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/events/cnnblackmail

(4) https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/29/trump-slams-media-as-true-enemy-of-the-people-days-after-cnn-targeted.html

[donaldsdiscourse-blog]

#50 most retweeted 

[donaldsdiscourse-blog]

#49 most retweeted 

[donaldsdiscourse-blog]

#48 most retweeted 

[donaldsdiscourse-blog]

#47 most retweeted 

[donaldsdiscourse-blog]

#46 most retweeted 

[donaldsdiscourse-blog]

#44 most retweeted 

[donaldsdiscourse-blog]

#43 most retweeted 

[donaldsdiscourse-blog]

#42 most retweeted 

[donaldsdiscourse-blog]

#41 most retweeted 

[donaldsdiscourse-blog]

#40 most retweeted 

[donaldsdiscourse-blog]

#39 most retweeted 

[donaldsdiscourse-blog]

#38 most retweeted 

[donaldsdiscourse-blog]

#37 most retweeted