YSU grad student analyzes the president’s style

By AMANDA TONOLI

atonoli@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

President Donald Trump’s style of bully-pulpit rhetoric is the first of its kind in U.S. politics, said Taylor Phillips, a Youngstown State University graduate student.

Phillips will present her research project titled “Make Name Calling Great Again! An Analysis of Donald Trump’s Campaign Rhetoric” at the annual Diversity of Scholarship event at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Gallery of Kilcawley Center on campus.

“I wanted to do my project on Trump because we’ve never seen anything like [his rhetoric] before,” Phillips said.

She looked at a number of focus groups, joined a number of pro-Trump Facebook pages during and after the election and sought out answers to better understand his supporters who back his sometimes outrageous comments.

“These people were so into it, and they were like, ‘Lyin’ Ted [Cruz],’ and ‘Lock her up Hillary [Clinton],’” she said. “And they do it because he still name-calls on social media.”

The reason? Anger.

“What people liked about [Trump] was that he was angry,” Phillips said. “And they were angry, and they felt because they were angry they could relate to him, and that’s why they reacted so positively to his name-calling.”

Another aspect Phillips researched was the infamous “fake news.”

“People on these pro-Trump pages would post these outrageous stories thinking they’re true. ... They easily believed them if it were in favor of Trump,” she said.

Phillips said she was equally interested and surprised because out of the many Republican candidates during the primary, she did not think the candidate – let alone the president – would end up being Trump.

Paul Sracic, professor and chairman of Youngstown State University’s Department of Politics and International Relations, said Trump’s rhetoric is not that surprising.

“The overall rhetoric of our society has changed quite a bit over the last 10 to 20 years,” he said. “There is little bit less politeness all around.”

Sracic and Phillips agree that before Trump’s presidency, there always has been a level of “politeness.”

“When you get up on the floor of Congress, there is politeness in an address to another member of Congress,” Sracic said.

Phillips has hopes Trump’s rhetoric will not set a precedent for the future.

“You can’t have a president who is on a permanent campaign,” she said.

Mark Munroe, chairman of the Mahoning County Republican Party, said it is not surprising Trump is running a so-called permanent campaign because he’s running into so much opposition.

“There’s no question he’s an unusual politician and unlike politicians we’ve seen in the past, but that’s one of the things people like about Trump,” he said. “For so long we’ve done a good job of nominating and electing candidates who are smooth talkers, and nothing seems to change.

“The federal bureaucracy grows, and while sometimes Trump says things that causes people to turn their heads in surprise, there is still a hope and expectation that finally we’ve got somebody really different who will actually try to keep his promises,” Munroe said.

Munroe added Trump’s methods are shaking the country to its core and he will lead “a political revolution.”

Trump’s impoliteness, however, is “giving license to people to be bullies,” said Atty. David Betras, chairman of the Mahoning County Democratic Party.

“It gives license to people to do and say whatever they think they should,” he said. “When you live in a civilized, ordered society, you have norms you follow, and calling someone ‘fatty’ and ‘ugly’ are not condoned.”

Sracic said the language in politics is a reflection of society.

“We are not formal anymore as a society,” he said. “[We have] that sort of informality – that brusqueness. It is common now to walk across the YSU campus and hear students using words they wouldn’t have used 20 years ago. What we are seeing is a cultural decline in the quality of rhetoric and politeness.”

Rebecca Curnalia, communications associate professor, said Phillips’ research may reflect “what may be the direction commander-in-chiefs take in communicating with the public in the future.”

Betras said the future does not look positive with Trump’s current rhetoric.