This is a very rough draft of my speech outline. I will be making many changes between now and the first draft.
:format(png)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/55052535/Screenshot_2017_06_01_16.34.32.0.png)
Topic: Donald Trump’s Twitter Posts on Climate Change (2012)
Trump’s Claim: Climate change is a threat to the productivity of the United States government, so you (the American public) should support me in my political career.
Purpose: Analyze how Trump used Twitter to perpetuate a general fear of climate change, and in turn, gain political support.
Thesis Statement: Through his Twitter posts, Donald Trump accentuates climate change fears and misinformation; he successfully employs rhetorical vernacular, Kairos, and scare tactics to gain political support, ultimately helping him win the 2016 presidential election.
Introduction
Attention Strategy :
→ In 2019, just two years before being permanently suspended from Twitter, the Pew Research Center estimated that approximately 1 in 5 adult twitter users followed Trump.
→ Without a doubt, the thousands of Twitter comments that Trump posted leading up to the 2016 presidential election helped him gain a rallying support system. Through his unique word choice, incredible response to exigence, and overarching nationalist themes, Trump enlisted a general misunderstanding of global warming among his followers.
Orienting Material:
→ In 2016, Trump pioneered a unique presidential campaign by using Twitter as his primary means of reaching millions of people across the country.
→ Leading up to the election, Trump posted his “raw” opinions without censorship or review.
→ Through climate change and other pressing issues of the 2016 election and beyond, Trump revolutionized the usage of social media for all presidencies to follow; despite having a comparably unique campaign to his previous successors, Trump built a strong political persona on Twitter, which ultimately attributed to his victory in the 2016 election.
Preview: Undoubtedly, ex-president Donald Trump’s political speech and persuasion techniques are unique when compared to any other presidential candidate in history. This speech will analyze how Donald Trump took one pressing issue of the time period, and used his contradictory opinion to gain a rallying support system. Starting in 2012 up until the peak of the election, Climate Change was a major debate topic for both parties. Trump took his stand on social media and backed it up in the press. His confidence showed through in the rhetorical vernacular, urgent response to exigence, and scare tactics which he employed on Twitter.
Body
- Main Idea – At the most basic level, we can analyze Donald Trump’s word choice when addressing the public; despite speaking on formal topics, Trump’s vernacular is unprofessional and mimics the speech of the average American. Hence, he takes on a unique appeal to the American public.
- Hyperboles
-
- “Windmills are the greatest threat …”
- “It’s really cold outside … we could use a big fat dose of global warming”
-
- Climate Change vs. Global Warming
- Global Warming refers specifically to rising global temperatures due to greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
- Trump tends to reference global warming as a general increase in the earth’s temperature.
- Climate Change is a more broad term used to describe the changes in ecosystems and climate over long periods of time.
- Climate Change proves that weather patterns are becoming less predictable and climates are reaches both ends of the extremes (hot and cold)
- Global Warming refers specifically to rising global temperatures due to greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
- Hyperboles
- Main Idea – Donald Trump posts his tweets with exigence, making them have a stronger appeal to the pressing concerns of the public.
- Trump posted his viral tweet on Climate Change directly following Obama’s presidential victory on November 6th, 2012.
- Obama is re-elected to the presidency, defeating his opponent, Mitt Romney.
- Trump posted his viral tweet on Climate Change directly following Obama’s presidential victory on November 6th, 2012.
- Main Idea – Donald Trump uses Climate Change as a threat.
- Them vs. Us Construct – his comments appeal to an audience that supports his claim.
- “Global warming was created by and for the Chinese” (Chinese vs. Trump’s agenda)
- “Media Claims fictional ‘global warming’ is getting worse.” (Media vs. Trump’s agenda)
- “They are calling it a major freeze” (Meteorologist vs. Trump’s agenda)
- Scare Tactics – Trump plays into the nationalist hearts of his followers, to make them fearful of how climate change could disrupt their political agendas.
- “Windmills are the greatest threat to both bald and golden eagles”
- “Makes U.S manufacturing non-competitive”
- Them vs. Us Construct – his comments appeal to an audience that supports his claim.
Conclusion
Not only in the press, but also on social media, Donald Trump is a master of rhetoric. As shown through this selection of his most viral Global Warming tweets, he can transform any political debate into a rallying political concept.
Summary Statement
The undeniable fear that climate change might disrupt Trump’s political agenda coupled with informal word choice and Kairos propelled Donald Trump’s tweets to top charts and ultimately success in the 2016 presidential election.
Concluding Remark – Regardless of whether his views are politically correct or not, Donald Trump was successful in gaining significant political support through Twitter, which was instrumental to his victory in the 2016 presidential campaign. All 57,000 tweets over the time period of his active twitter account must have been worth it for him.
Resources
https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/how-twitter-affected-2016-presidential-election