Discursive Strategies Used in Trump’s Speech: Rally in Perry, GA, United States on September 25, 2021

Authors

  • Salaam M. Alhawamdeh Jerash University
  • Rajai R. Al-Khanji University of Jordan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1506.09

Keywords:

Critical Discourse Analysis, polarisation, Norm expressions, disclaimer, lexicalisation

Abstract

This study is a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) with special reference to one of Trump’s speeches called ‘Perry, GA, United States on September 25, 2021’. The study investigates Trump’s ideology, attitude and perspectives using Van Dijk’s socio-cognitive approach (2006). It aims to show how Trump justifies his ideas. The paper claims that there is an important deliberation of political discourse in replicating and influencing the community. Analysing the speeches linguistically shows how Trump conveys or expresses his ideologies. The paper adopted van Dijk’s’ model to examine the linguistic devices employed by Trump. Hence, the study found that discursive devices are present in Trump’s speech. Based on data analysis, the study finds that Trump uses 15 discursive devices: polarisation (Us-them categorisation) (356), Norm expressions (68), Disclaimer (52), Repetition (38), Lexicalisation (29), Metaphor (19), Simile (13), Negative labelling (12), Exaggeration (7), Self-glorification (4), Comparison (3), Number game (3), Implication (2), Victimisation (1) and Actor description (1).

Author Biographies

Salaam M. Alhawamdeh, Jerash University

Department of English Language and Literature

Rajai R. Al-Khanji, University of Jordan

Department of Foreign Languages

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Published

2025-06-01

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