How Trump and his team are trying to change politics through the use of language

[dalton99a]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-political-lexicon-of-a-billionaire-populist/2017/03/09/4d4c2686-ff86-11e6-8f41-ea6ed597e4ca_story.html

The political lexicon of a billionaire populist
By Marc Fisher | March 9 at 7:21 PM

From the start of his presidential campaign, Donald Trump pledged “total change,” delivering his promises with a scorched-earth political vocabulary — “Lyin’ Ted,” “Crooked Hillary,” “drain the swamp,” “lock her up.” Some found his language appalling, but others found it refreshing enough to make him president.

Now, in the Oval Office, Trump and his chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon, have moved beyond the campaign’s embrace of political incorrectness to shake official Washington with a new vocabulary that breaks from the usual liberal-conservative terms of debate.

Bannon rails against the “corporatist, globalist media.” Trump talks about “a global power structure.” Bannon promises the “deconstruction of the administrative state.” With evident relish, the president stands before Congress and enunciates every syllable of “radical Islamic terrorism,” even after his own national security adviser protests that the phrase is unhelpful.

“The populist rhetoric is so systemic, it’s hard to believe it’s not a deliberate effort to change the language of politics,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), who taught history at the University of Oklahoma before entering politics. “This is obviously very populist language — the idea that there’s finally somebody here to protect you from these international and corporate forces that are making you feel lost.”

[cilla4progress]

1. After being confronted by an alt right diehard

In my basement a couple weeks ago and experiencing this, I totally get it. Real mind warp. I finally made him leave.

[asiliveandbreathe]

2. What the hell...this is BS....

This is obviously very populist language — the idea that there’s finally somebody here to protect you from these international and corporate forces that are making you feel lost.”

are you lost? - are we lost? - WTF!

[Tanuki]

3. I'm not lost, and I'm damn sure not going to be misdirected

from the appalling presence of a neo-Nazi at the so-called president's elbow, undermining and destroying everything I believe in and have worked for all my life .

[Nitram]

4. Trump's supporters are "lost" because they run into conflicts with reality on a daily basis.

Their world view, and the world view espoused by Trump and Fox News, is so departed from reality that it produces a high level of anxiety whenever it comes up against the facts. Cognitive dissonance on steroids.