The Donald Trump Inauguration Speech
My topic for this introduction needs no introduction.
Donald Trump is the most polarizing figure of this century. His inauguration speech on January 20, 2017 was the culmination of one of the most heated races for the United States presidency in recent memory. The American people either love him or hate him, with no in between. Today, I will dive deeper into what made this speech so important. (You can find a link to the speech here via the White House)
The main through line of the speech can really be figured out with one sentence. Trump sets the tone early on by saying, “the forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer”. It was, arguably, the key quote in the speech, and one that got America talking and is still the one most remembered today. Also, it served as a sort of prelude to what was to come, as the “tough” talk continued. In fact, you can argue that the tone of the entire speech and his presidency was to look and sound as “tough” as possible in a not-so-subtle commentary on prior presidential regimes. It was the same tone he used in debates and primaries, and Trump showed us all in his inauguration speech that he had no intentions of abandoning it. His main quote exemplified this, saying that “this American carnage stops right here and stops right now”. It was a verbal show of force that has taken over his entire political career.
Sure enough, Trump’s detractors saw that coming as well. Steve Benen of MSNBC noted that “many observers said he’d soon pivot towards a more responsible campaign message in order to extend his appeal to more Republican constituencies. That didn’t happen.” He is correct, and now two years into his presidency, it still hasn’t happened. Fox News concurred, as Douglas Schoen wrote in a far less negative view of this speech that “above all it’s worth remembering that an angry electorate, desperate for change, elevated Trump to this position, and his inaugural address has succinctly reflected that.” Across the pond, however, the columnists at the Guardian were, shall we say, unimpressed. In short quasi-blogs published shortly after, all three of their writers panned the entire speech, using words such as “dumbness” and “idiotic ugliness”. Jamie Weinstein also makes a great point, noting that President Trump “does not fit very well on the traditional right-left, conservative-liberal political axis we have become used to in American political life”. This is something that I feel is a bit lost in the myriad of Trump hot takes, and one that I think deserves being looked into more.
In my opinion, I did not find the speech to be controversial at all. It sounded, to me, to be the exact same Trump that was seen on the campaign trail. Even today, as Trump tweets into his legacy, I wonder why so many people are still shocked as to what he is saying. It has been there all along. In his mind, talking like this got him elected to the most prestigious job in the world, so why change now? I feel like this was one of the few cases in the days of Trump where the media didn’t go overboard with their coverage, as even though the coverage was mostly negative, they were also opinion pieces. They are allowed their opinion. Trump is allowed his, too, and delivered his speech accordingly. The media coverage that the Trump administration has received has been unprecedentedly negative, and he knows that going in. As for what it means for political commentary in the future? We need to hope that the next administration gets treated the same way.
Donald Trump on the campaign trail (via Rolling Stone)
Donald Trump is the most polarizing figure of this century. His inauguration speech on January 20, 2017 was the culmination of one of the most heated races for the United States presidency in recent memory. The American people either love him or hate him, with no in between. Today, I will dive deeper into what made this speech so important. (You can find a link to the speech here via the White House)
The main through line of the speech can really be figured out with one sentence. Trump sets the tone early on by saying, “the forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer”. It was, arguably, the key quote in the speech, and one that got America talking and is still the one most remembered today. Also, it served as a sort of prelude to what was to come, as the “tough” talk continued. In fact, you can argue that the tone of the entire speech and his presidency was to look and sound as “tough” as possible in a not-so-subtle commentary on prior presidential regimes. It was the same tone he used in debates and primaries, and Trump showed us all in his inauguration speech that he had no intentions of abandoning it. His main quote exemplified this, saying that “this American carnage stops right here and stops right now”. It was a verbal show of force that has taken over his entire political career.
the incoming chief seemed very critical of the prior (via the New York Times)
Sure enough, Trump’s detractors saw that coming as well. Steve Benen of MSNBC noted that “many observers said he’d soon pivot towards a more responsible campaign message in order to extend his appeal to more Republican constituencies. That didn’t happen.” He is correct, and now two years into his presidency, it still hasn’t happened. Fox News concurred, as Douglas Schoen wrote in a far less negative view of this speech that “above all it’s worth remembering that an angry electorate, desperate for change, elevated Trump to this position, and his inaugural address has succinctly reflected that.” Across the pond, however, the columnists at the Guardian were, shall we say, unimpressed. In short quasi-blogs published shortly after, all three of their writers panned the entire speech, using words such as “dumbness” and “idiotic ugliness”. Jamie Weinstein also makes a great point, noting that President Trump “does not fit very well on the traditional right-left, conservative-liberal political axis we have become used to in American political life”. This is something that I feel is a bit lost in the myriad of Trump hot takes, and one that I think deserves being looked into more.
In my opinion, I did not find the speech to be controversial at all. It sounded, to me, to be the exact same Trump that was seen on the campaign trail. Even today, as Trump tweets into his legacy, I wonder why so many people are still shocked as to what he is saying. It has been there all along. In his mind, talking like this got him elected to the most prestigious job in the world, so why change now? I feel like this was one of the few cases in the days of Trump where the media didn’t go overboard with their coverage, as even though the coverage was mostly negative, they were also opinion pieces. They are allowed their opinion. Trump is allowed his, too, and delivered his speech accordingly. The media coverage that the Trump administration has received has been unprecedentedly negative, and he knows that going in. As for what it means for political commentary in the future? We need to hope that the next administration gets treated the same way.
President Trump taking the oath of office in front of his family (via Reuters)
In the meantime, Trump treated his inauguration as he has treated being the President of the United States.
On his terms.
Not the media's.
On his terms.
Not the media's.
Comments
Post a Comment