Donald Trump, Republican National Convention, 18 July 2024

‘Under my plan, incomes will skyrocket, inflation will vanish completely, jobs will come roaring back, and the middle class will prosper like never, ever before, and we’re going to do it very rapidly. But no hope or dream we have for America can succeed unless we stop the illegal immigrant invasion. … At the heart of the Republican platform is our pledge to end this border nightmare and fully restore the sacred and sovereign borders of the United States of America. And we’re going to do that on Day 1.’

Donald Trump, 18 July 2024

On 18 July 2024, at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, in a 90-minute speech, Donald Trump accepted the Republican Party’s Presidential Nomination. I was awake at the start of his speech and listened to it on my bedside radio for the first 60 minutes, turning to the BBC’s iPlayer live broadcast for the last 30 minutes. This was Trump’s first appearance since the assassination attempt in Butler Township, OH, four days earlier. Trump fascinates me. He bulldozes his way through fact and fiction with no attempt to identify and thus separate them. Trump predicts impossible futures as if he is a god with supernatural powers and a fairy godmother with a gigantic wand. And he does so in a presentation style that is straight out of the How to Talk Bullshit manual. But the audience loved him with periodic chants of ‘We love Trump’, ‘Fight, fight, fight,’ and ‘Win, win, win.’

Although I’ve included a summary of his policy statements, I do not intend to critique the content of Trump’s speech. Google ‘Fact-checking Trump’s acceptance speech’, and you will unearth many post-mortem articles. I plan to analyse Trump’s presentation style and the audience’s reaction. For those who did not wake up early last Thursday, I’ll start with a summary of what he said he will do when he becomes the President of the United States again. He’s in no doubt that that will happen!

On futures, policies, and implementation speed

In various parts of Trump’s speech, he promised to:

• lower taxes,
• end the inflation crisis,
• bring down interest rates,
• lower the cost of energy by ending the ‘meaningless Green New Scam’ (no friend to climate changers then) and using the ‘liquid gold under our feet – we will drill, baby!’,
• bring down prices of transportation, manufacture (‘Build it in America’), and household goods,
• start paying off the national debt, currently standing at $36 trillion,
• ‘No tax on tips’, as per the recommendation of the waitress in Nevada (coming up),
• finish the Southern border wall and ‘end misery, crime, poverty, disease, and destruction of communities caused by illegal immigration’,
• end the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, ‘neither of which would have happened if I had been president,’
• place 100% tariffs on foreign goods, especially cars,
• find cures for cancer and Alzheimer’s disease,
• and end election fraud.

Others have commented on the reality of all these policies succeeding, but what struck me is the speed with which Trump said he would achieve them using words such as very quickly, very rapidly, immediately, and starting on Day 1.

Make America Great Again? Very quickly? Promises, promises, promises.

Use of superlative adjectives and adverbs

Trump uses superlatives. Oh boy, does he love superlatives! Here are some examples:

Love (26 instances). There was much love in the room:

• on peoples’ faces,
• for American patriots,
• to accompany prayers,
• ‘We love Trump’, an audience chant,
• family love,
• a love of politics,
• ‘We love MS-13’, a sarcastic reference to the notorious criminal organisation, Mara Salvatrucha;
• and, of course, ‘America, the country we love.’

Beautiful (20 instances). Everybody and everything was beautiful:

• Kid Rock, one of the warm-up singers,
• a restaurant he visited in the Las Vegas Strip, NV, where the waitress suggested ‘no tax on tips’ when Trump asked her how she was doing,
• beautiful day in Butler Township, where the assassination attempt took place,
• the audience at the convention,
• certain people (Melania, Trump’s wife, and singer/songwriter Lee Greenwood),
• the Fiserv Forum arena in Milwaukee,
• a place where Dana White, the compere, lives – Manchester, CN,
• the White House, where Trump hopes to be in four months,
• weapons left behind by the American military when they withdrew from  Afghanistan in 2021,
• American naval destroyers under construction in Wisconsin,
• and the American flag.

Incredible (16 instances). Incredible things included:

• Election victory in four months,
• the reaction of the attendees at the rally in Butler Township,
• Brandon Judd, a border control man,
• Corey Comperatore, the ex-fire chief killed by the would-be assassin, Thomas Crooks,
• Donald Trump Jnr, one of Trump’s sons,
• Usha, the wife of JD Vance who was referred to as the future President of the United States,
• Franklin Graham, the son of evangelist Billy Graham, both of whom were incredible and also loved,
• other uses of incredible to colour concepts such as a waste of tax-payers’ money, people who have died violently by the hands of ‘bad guy’ illegal immigrants, and incredible success under Trump’s first presidency turned into unparalleled tragedy and failure under Biden.

Other ‘stirring’ words used by Trump included amazing (4 instances), applied to Melania, Kid Rock, and events; fantastic (3 instances), applied to Hulk Hogan, Billy and Franklin Graham; unbelievable (3 instances), concerning Corey Comperatore and to American technology; warriors (2 instances); magnificent (2 instances), country and family; outstanding (1 instance), Franklin Graham, again!

Clearly, when Trump becomes the President of the United States for a second time, he will need to employ a lexicographer to invent new superlative words. Overusing his current arsenal will degrade their meaning and reduce the impact of his speeches.

Idiolectic style

I’ve listened to Trump speak many times and this latest presentation was more subdued than in the past. We did get a bit of forceful, impassioned rhetoric, clenched fist raised, but mainly, Trump delivered his speech in what might be termed a ‘fireside chat’ style: at ease, continuously glancing around the audience, voice level kept relatively even, and with adequate pauses for audience appreciation in terms of applause and, occasionally, a spontaneous chant. Trump has a particular style of presentation. He often says something, pauses, and then repeats the last few words of what he said with lower frequency and tone and at a volume that dies away. Effectively, this end-of-sentence repetition forces the audience to stay quiet and attentive until he’s made his point – twice.

It’s an interesting public speaking technique. I have lectured worldwide to electronic designers and test engineers and, on occasion, used the pause-and-repeat process to make a point, but only occasionally. Trump overdoes it. After a while, you begin to notice the technique and analyse the content of the repeat. Here’s an example from Trump’s speech. I’ve italicised the sotto voce repeats.

‘I saw a chart of great songs to America. That [song ‘God Bless the USA’, Lee Greenwood, country music singer/songwriter] was No. 1 on the chart recently. Number 1, so. That’s Lee Greenwood, very special, beautiful person. He’s a beautiful man.’

What’s meant by ‘Number 1, so’? And, I assume the beautiful description applies to the inner Lee, not his outer appearance?

References to God

I’ve not noticed Trump’s use of God in previous speeches, but He certainly got a mention this time – nine mentions in all. ‘God was on my side’ in the Butler Township; ‘I’m only here [at the RNC Convention] by the grace of God…’; ‘One nation under God,’; ‘None of us knows God’s plan…’; ‘every single moment we have on Earth is a gift from God.’; ‘God bless you, Wisconsin.’; ‘ … and ‘God bless the United States of America, our great country.’

Opinions vary regarding how many American citizens believe in God—somewhere between 74% and 81%—but Trump had obviously been advised to bring Him into the picture. Personally, I think Trump is positioning himself to be godlike, and the real God, if she exists, needs to look to the security of her position as the head of all gods!

That right ear and the Cheeseheads!

The assassination attempt on Trump in Butler Township was horrendous. He was fortunate to suffer a non-life-threatening injury to his right ear, the dressing on which was prominent throughout his presentation. But why were members of the audience also wearing right-ear dressings? And why were some people wearing hats resembling a large wedge of Swiss cheese (cheese with holes in it, e.g., Emmentaler and Gruyere)? Google the answer to that last question. The hat’s origin dates back to a Milwaukeean, Ralph Bruno, in the 1980s.

Occasionally, the camera panned various segments of the audience. The adoration was palpable. There were head nods of agreement, gentle, loving smiles of assent and approval, sideways glances signalling like-mindedness to a companion, or just eyes filled with hero worship, admiration, and, in one case, what appeared to be ecstasy.

The camera operator was a fan and knew where to find other supporters.

Personal attacks

Personal attacks on members of the Democratic Party were kept to a minimum. In the past, Trump has not held back with scathing comments on Joe Biden and others, but this time, he refrained. He mentioned Biden twice, calling him even worse than one of the ’10 worst presidents in the history of the United States,’ and then said, ‘I’m not going to use the name anymore. Just one time. The damage that he’s done to this country is unthinkable. It’s unthinkable.’ (Another example of end-of-sentence repetition.)

He also referred to ex-speaker Nancy Pelosi as ‘crazy Nancy Pelosi’, and that was all he said. I guess he was advised to soften the personal attacks, play on the attempted assassination card, and project a softer family image alongside his tough political image.

Personal comments about other world leaders were also kept to a minimum. There was no mention of Putin, Netanyahu, Zelensky, or Jinping. Just throwaway comments about Hungary’s Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán – ‘He’s a tough guy, a very tough man,’ – and North Korea’s Supreme Leader, Kim Jong Un – ‘I got along very well with him.’

The image of Trump as a family man

In addition to a subdued presentation, Trump projected himself as a family man. At the end of the presentation, his low-profile wife, Melania, joined him on stage wearing a classy outfit, red to match Trump’s tie, for an embrace, a wave, and a permanent smile. The loving couple were then joined by all the family – offspring plus partners and grandchildren, two of whom took great delight in catching and kicking the deluge of red, white, and blue balloons cascading down from the ceiling of the building. With many ‘You did well, Dad’ comments and other gestures of well done, Trump came across as a respected, even loved, father and grandfather. Every family member was well groomed with perfect hair (the females) and facial hair (the males), gleaming white teeth (female and male), and looking every inch a dynasty.

Will the United States turn into a dynastic monarchy?

Conclusion

Trump is the ultimate showman, combining the skills of a fairground barker with those of a seasoned conman. He elicits sympathy from his audience and portrays himself as a hard-nosed businessman regarding future governmental policies. He is Superman. He exudes confidence in his ability to achieve results where many others have failed. He wants to be like God. He thinks he is already like God, and all he needs to do is wave his fairy-godmother wand, and the United States will become paradise instantly.

He will need a bloody big wand to make that happen!

(^_^)