Trump and His Three Types of Rhetoric: Do Not Turn Away
01/07/2025
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The Rhetoric of Violence
��� In his Lecture XXXIV, Hugh Blair begins by teaching listeners to sharpen their eloquent speaking style to amuse and entertain the audience. Trump manages eloquence to only one degree: candor. He endeavored to persuade his audience to attack the Capital by using the slogan created by Steve Bannon: Stop the Steal. This slogan served as an imperative, and in its delivery to the audience, in the context of Trump's location and his baseless argument that the election "was rigged," provided the MAGA mob with permission to raid our nation's Capital and commit violence against its occupants. This perverted rhetoric continues to threaten our democracy, a symbol of American freedom. Democracy is abstract, while citizens that debate our country's laws and values are concrete. The threat of injury and death still exists both in an abstract manner against the civility of our country, but also in the concrete form. This is why citizens not in agreement with Trump and his handlers live with a lingering sense of dread.
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