The 2016 election was one of the most unique and controversial elections of United States history. The candidates both had their own ways of campaigning, from hosting rowdy rallies to quoting “Pokémon Go to the polls.” But the campaigning led to a great deal of propaganda, both good and bad, some pieces more effective than others. One specific quote that I’ve noticed on bumper stickers and have taken a liking to comes from Hillary Clinton’s campaign: “Love trumps hate.”

The phrase is a double entendre. It can either be perceived as “Love trumps hate” or “Love Trump’s hate.” For the first statement, Clinton uses Donald Trump’s last name as a verb, allowing her message to translate into “love over hate.” In the second statement, Clinton uses Trump’s name to signify that she loves his hate. In both way of interpretation, Clinton was referring to the rhetorical situation and persona of her opponent in order to gain support for her candidacy.

Donald Trump’s campaign was… untraditional to say the least. His statements were quite bold: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best…They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists”, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts”, “Total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the U.S.”. His irresponsibility when it came to spreading these ideologies caused a great deal of hatred towards minority groups to spread across America. The FBI has even found that hate crimes spiked after the 2016 election (https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/11/13/16643448/fbi-hate-crimes-2016).

It is no coincidence that this all occurred– words can truly ignite a fire. But to douse the flames, Clinton created her phrase of “Love trumps hate.” She is trying to say that love, which she attempts to practice instead of spreading dangerous rhetoric, will always win over hate, which Trump fuels with his speeches. Clinton represents the “love”, while her opponent represents the “hate”, so the overall message is that she will indeed win the election (unfortunate, really). The other perception of the statement is to love Trump’s hate. Donald Trump has said how much he dislikes certain racial and religious groups, so Hillary Clinton is telling her audience to love those groups. She will stand for Mexicans, for Black people, for Muslims, even if Donald Trump will not.

Of course, we all know how the election of 2016 turned out. But the overall positive messaging that Hillary Clinton tried to spread was truly refreshing in a time that was filled with overwhelming negativity and hatred.