Teaching about rhetoric in the time of Donald Trump presents a curious challenge.
I don’t believe Trump is a reflective, scholarly sort of thinker. Reports from inside the White House suggest he works by “gut” and isn’t one for complex theories. More P. T. Barnum than Edward Bernays, Trump knows the value of media coverage instinctively.
Think about it. Someone working on instinct knows more about employing rhetorical techniques than the well-educated, scholarly experts employed by his opponents. And if you don’t believe Trump is winning, you’re mistaken because you believe having a majority in agreement indicates winning a debate.
Trump knows that a plurality or even an outright minority of citizens can be sufficient to exercise power. After all, he won both the Republican primary and the general election. He won the GOP nomination with a minority of Republican voters (he lost the early closed primaries to the politicians) and he won the presidency while losing the popular vote.
It isn’t because Trump is brilliant in the way a Bill Clinton is a political strategist. What Trump understands is marketing a brand, a product line.
Trump has a pattern. He has a model he follows. Here’s what we should mention to our students and our clients:
- Dominate media coverage, even with negative coverage, to block opponents seeking exposure.
- Appear larger-than-life, no matter how absurd, to be the center of attention.
- Claim to be the best, the biggest, the most… everything.
- Attack opponents relentlessly, until they either succumb or respond in kind… lowering their stature.
- Deny any errors, no matter how much evidence there is of the mistake.
- Exaggerate accomplishments and take credit for those of others.
Quite simply, be a showman. Everyone knows you’re a shark — a stereotype — and yet because it is so obvious, your supporters can dismiss some of your statements as an act.
Trump’s supporters will tell you he speaks “literary truth” but not literal truth. When I first heard this explanation, I thought it was absurd. Then, I learned that Trump explains and defends this “truth” in Art of the Deal. Trump’s truth is “truthful hyperbole” that sells. Audiences know he’s being hyperbolic, and they accept it.
If we don’t teach this product-style marketing of a president, we’re doing students and clients a disservice. Clearly, this approach wins power and control.
We know that pathos (emotions) wins debates. It always has. Trump magnifies emotions, including the negative emotions of his opponents. Once opponents overreact to Trump, his supporters quickly dismiss the opponents as silly and paranoid. Becoming more like Trump doesn’t persuade anyone in this paradox.
If you are perceived as a jester, you can occasionally be serious. But, when serious politicians and thinkers respond to the jester, it seems to backfire.
Years from now, we will realize this was the Infomercial Presidency with a wild host. We never believed what Billy Mays sold, but we watched. Trump is our national Billy Mays.