Trumping Trump : a content analysis to identify manipulative strategies employed by Donald Trump in the final speeches prior to presidential election 2016

Abstract

This study originates from contemporary political struggles to understand political discourse and be mindful of potential manipulation exercised. A review of literature creates a sound knowledge and understanding of what scholars consider to be manipulative techniques in speech, particularly political discourse. Four of Donald Trump’s speeches a week before the 2016 election are closely analysed with emphasis on their introductory and concluding movements complemented by a discourse analysis of recurrent themes and patterns observed, in search for manipulative techniques employed. Results show that despite the common perception of Trump’s unstructured, unscripted simplistic and repetitive speech, the four speeches analysed followed more or less the same topical structure with a clear agenda with regard to the message conveyed. Issues of identity formation, disregard to the current establishment, and rhetorical techniques feature prominently in this research.